Bus Crashes

[PattayaOneTeam]

By The Numbers

58 the ranking Thailand was given out of 100 countries in the world in a survey by the United States-based Newsweek magazine in August. The factors taken into account were education (Thailand 57th), quality of life (55th), health (66th), economic dynamism (39th), and political environment (74th).

The three worst countries were Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Cameroon. Don't think you'd get much of an argument from many people on those, although the Nigerians might suggest they rank highly in economic dynamism, after all, they put the meaning into the phrase 'Nigerian Scam'.

The top three ranked nations were Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden. Considering the large numbers of their nationals who come to live in Thailand one gets the feeling the survey might have been missing something.

50 percent plus. This is the estimated percentage of people in the world who have never made or received a telephone call. Not one of them lives in Pattaya.

85 the estimated percentage of accidents involving public buses and caused by the drivers of these vehicles being 'careless' in the period from January to August 2010 (according to Chairat Sanguansue, the Director-General of the Land Transport Department). Alarmed at these statistics it is said Land Transport officials issued an advice to public bus drivers telling them to control their speed, especially when it happens to be raining as slippery roads can cause accidents to occur more easily.

Naturally, public bus drivers were amazed at this information and hadn't realised how dangerous wet weather could be, despite the fact many of them had been working at their profession for many years. Khun Somchai Likmaballsalot, a regular driver on the Rayong to wherever he finished up run, claimed driving a great big vehicle made him feel like a giant among minnows and he simply couldn't resist the urge to 'monster' other vehicles smaller than him on the road. He said he used to be a mini-van driver but since upgrading to a public bus his primal urges have become more pronounced.

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-- Pattaya One 2010-11-04