A tour bus taking 20 Chinese tourists from Pattaya to Bangkok has caught alight in front of the temple at Nong Yai.

Pattaya, the 30th of December 2009 [PDN]: Police Lieutenant Colonel Anan Thamachaikul (Pattaya police investigator) received a report at 8:45am on Wednesday that a bus was on fire in front of the Nong Yai temple on the way to Bangkok. It was explained that the incident had occurred at the 145km mark of the Sukhumvit Road. A team of police, rescue officers from the Sawang Boriboon Foundation and two Pattaya Fire Trucks rushed to the scene to investigate.

At the scene officers discovered a white and yellow 6 wheel Mercedes bus on fire at the rear, specifically from the engine compartment. The bus belonged to the Bangkok company Patchara Tours Limited. Authorities managed to extinguish the fire in less than 10 minutes. Fortunately, all 20 of the Chinese tourists escaped the fire unharmed, although they were a little flustered and frightened.

Police interrogated the driver of the bus Mr. Suraporn Faksomboon [40], he declared that he had picked the tour group up from an unknown hotel in Jomtien before he set off on the drive to Bangkok. Around the 145km mark on the road he had noticed smoke coming from the rear of the bus, so decided to stop and check out the situation. Upon realizing that the engine compartment was on fire he ordered all passengers off the bus and contacted authorities.

Police believe that the fire may have been started due to faulty or exposed wiring around the battery terminal. A report has been filed and the bus has been towed away, no charges have been laid against the driver or the bus company.

pattayadailynews.com

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30 Dec 2009

Amazing Thailand!!!

Police interrogated the driver of the bus Mr. Suraporn Faksomboon [40], he declared that he had picked the tour group up from an unknown hotel in Jomtien...

I hate to say it, but that's one more dangerous bus off the road for a while. At least no one was hurt.

Those buses are bad news for everyone else on the road.

I hate to say it, but that's one more dangerous bus off the road for a while. At least no one was hurt.

Those buses are bad news for everyone else on the road.

Just following Thai simple logic "Don't fix it 'til its broke" , well , because of that thinking , it is logical to assume that this one is broke for sure .

This is hardly BIG news.....

Amazing Thailand!!!

Police interrogated the driver of the bus Mr. Suraporn Faksomboon [40], he declared that he had picked the tour group up from an unknown hotel in Jomtien...

YEP yu have to laugh at that one ! if i had a bus for 20 tourists ready to be scammed i would certainly like to know where they are to be picked up

Luckily no one was injured. I hope the remainder of their holiday is better.

And the tourists are still camped out on the side of the road . . . .

This is hardly BIG news.....

VERY TRUE

Seems like every mishap in Thailand is greeted by IT CAN ONLY HAPPEN IN Pattaya/Phuket etc.

Anybody been to Spain,Greece,Turkey,USA etc,especialy more than 2 weeks,this could happen anywhere.

Was going to add Egypt,Iraq,Afghanistan but didnt want to be accused of racism

I cant understand this, why did the driver stay at the scene? I thought they are trained to run away?

This is hardly BIG news.....

VERY TRUE

Seems like every mishap in Thailand is greeted by IT CAN ONLY HAPPEN IN Pattaya/Phuket etc.

Anybody been to Spain,Greece,Turkey,USA etc,especialy more than 2 weeks,this could happen anywhere.

Was going to add Egypt,Iraq,Afghanistan but didnt want to be accused of racism

And don't forget Egypt, Iraq and Afghanistan..........

No charges have been made? So it is OK to drive or allow to be used a poorly maintained public service vehicle? I assume that money has changed hands or the owners are too highly placed.

BTW does anyway know with any certainty whether private coaches/buses are owned by the operating company or by the driver who dresses up the vehicle in the company livery and is employed on a contract basis?

I cant understand why the driver didnt run away. The worlds gone mad!!

No charges have been made? So it is OK to drive or allow to be used a poorly maintained public service vehicle? I assume that money has changed hands or the owners are too highly placed.

BTW does anyway know with any certainty whether private coaches/buses are owned by the operating company or by the driver who dresses up the vehicle in the company livery and is employed on a contract basis?

If not, there would hardly be any such vehicles on Thai roads.

I cant understand why the driver didnt run away. The worlds gone mad!!

Not really. Just the one thai showing some responsibility.

Thankfully it's just as well that no-one was killed otherwise The Nation's headline would have read:

"CHINESE TOUR FRIED"

The bus driver did the right thing: spotted the smoke, pulled over, everybody off the bus, wait for help.

The bus driver did the right thing: spotted the smoke, pulled over, everybody off the bus, wait for help.

If this should happen to anybody reading this then they now know what to do.

A further action would have been to try extinguish the fire or am I guilty of pie in the sky thinking that buses and coaches should all carry a fire extinguisher?

I can dream, can't I?

Hi.

A Mercedes Bus? Seems to be a bad year for them..... as what i read, in Berlin alone (Germany, which has some of the highest safety standards for vehicles in the world) a whole bunch of buses caught on fire during last year, and the one thing they all had in common - they were all Mercedes. And the fires always started in the engine compartment.

In Germany public service vehicles such as buses undergo VERY strict safety checks at least once per year, without it they are not allowed on the road. So this one (Phuket) can hardly be blamed on "poor maintenance" if it happens to a whole series of vehicles which would no doubt fall under "world's best maintained".

Or why are those rattling contraptions that run around as buses in Bangkok not on fire regularly..? I once followed one that had a line under it literally pissing Diesel fuel, i alerted the driver to that fact and his response? "No problem, fill when empty".

Best regards......

Thanh