Thai Bus Carrying Teachers, Students Overturns, 50 Injured, 5 Seriously, After Driver Dozes Off

[webfact]

Bus carrying teachers, students on field trip overturns, 50 injured

Bus carrying teachers, students on field trip overturns, 50 injured, 5 in seriously injured after driver dozes off

-- TNA 2011-03-07

[webfact]

School bus driver falls asleep behind wheel, causing bus to slide off road in Nakhon Ratchasima; 50 teachers and students injured /TAN_Network

[CharlieH]

Yet ANOTHER Bus driver falls asleep and people hurt........how many more people have to be injured or killed before someone actually DOES SOMTHING to stop this carnage on Thai roads and particularly with Bus drivers !.

[bangon04]

School bus driver falls asleep behind wheel, causing bus to slide off road in Nakhon Ratchasima; 50 teachers and students injured /TAN_Network

Bus/van accidents are becoming regular items in the news. Mai Pen Rai culture anyone?

Today hardly anyone feels it is worth posting about it.....

[ginjag]

School bus driver falls asleep behind wheel, causing bus to slide off road in Nakhon Ratchasima; 50 teachers and students injured /TAN_Network

Bus/van accidents are becoming regular items in the news. Mai Pen Rai culture anyone?

Today hardly anyone feels it is worth posting about it.....

Better the first passenger to arrive HAS to drive, more chance of survival.

[bangkokcitylimits]

From now on foreigners should be invited to apply for paid jobs as bus/van driver.

Sad but true it's just the only solution.

[canardo]

Guess no Hi-So's, politicians or even any royal blooded ever take such buses, so there is no lobby / power to change and improve anything...

Sad but true, sometimes I feel like I am in Ghana here.

[Businessman]

From now on, all children of all families (meaning every politician, every judge, every general, every doctor, and every tycoon) should be manadated to travel strictly by public transit. It won't take more than 24 hours until the whole country is corusing "Safety First". Family chauffers can drive the busses.

"If it ain't my DNA it's worthless DNA"

Edited March 7, 2011 by Businessman

[jimbeam1]

Yet ANOTHER Bus driver falls asleep and people hurt........how many more people have to be injured or killed before someone actually DOES SOMTHING to stop this carnage on Thai roads and particularly with Bus drivers !.

Sadly the answer to your question is thousands. Because it aint ever going to change.

I am sure that the powers to be, just view it as a form of necessary cull.

jb1

[blabla1]

No comment, i keep away from forums cause i get so,f***** pissed off,yes i know it's their country bla bla and so on and if we don't like it we pee off,but Christ oh mighty,people die,get injured,raped,murdered,ripped off,sexually abused, the list is endless,ahhhhhhhh...feel so f****** useless always hearing of these preventable acidents,......shit, i forgot...no comment!

[ginjag]

No comment, i keep away from forums cause i get so,f***** pissed off,yes i know it's their country bla bla and so on and if we don't like it we pee off,but Christ oh mighty,people die,get injured,raped,murdered,ripped off,sexually abused, the list is endless,ahhhhhhhh...feel so f****** useless always hearing of these preventable acidents,......shit, i forgot...no comment!

I can agree with you, but sorry you gave me a smile. :cheesy:

[webfact]

School Bus Crash Injures 50

Early this morning, a school bus overturned in Nakhon Ratchasima due to the driver falling asleep behind the wheel.

The accident happened between kilometers 15 and 16 on the Seekiew-Chokchai bypass road in Nakhon Ratchasima's Sungnern district.

There were more than 50 students and teachers injured, five of whom in serious condition.

Eleven have been transported to Seekiew Hospital, 42 to Sungnern Hospital and two to Maharaj Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital.

The school bus was bringing ninth to twelfth graders from Suwanvichit Wittaya School in Surin province back from a field trip in Prachuap Khiri Khan province.

Upon approaching the accident scene, driver 41 year old Thanadej Akarawongwatana fell asleep behind the wheel and lost control of the bus, causing it to swerve before hitting a bridge's guard rail and falling into a dry canal.

The driver sustained minor injuries and has been taken into police custody.

-- Tan Network 2011-03-07

[stepenwolf1958]

No comment, i keep away from forums cause i get so,f***** pissed off,yes i know it's their country bla bla and so on and if we don't like it we pee off,but Christ oh mighty,people die,get injured,raped,murdered,ripped off,sexually abused, the list is endless,ahhhhhhhh...feel so f****** useless always hearing of these preventable acidents,......shit, i forgot...no comment!

I can agree with you, but sorry you gave me a smile. :cheesy:

No worries all those problems you listed, will be as priority, just after election. Now campaign started so we have to understand Govt has not much time but asap-after elections all will be under control, as ever was, since this govt took the power.

[asiawatcher]

School Bus Crash Injures 50

Early this morning, a school bus overturned in Nakhon Ratchasima due to the driver falling asleep behind the wheel.

The accident happened between kilometers 15 and 16 on the Seekiew-Chokchai bypass road in Nakhon Ratchasima's Sungnern district.

There were more than 50 students and teachers injured, five of whom in serious condition.

Eleven have been transported to Seekiew Hospital, 42 to Sungnern Hospital and two to Maharaj Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital.

The school bus was bringing ninth to twelfth graders from Suwanvichit Wittaya School in Surin province back from a field trip in Prachuap Khiri Khan province.

Upon approaching the accident scene, driver 41 year old Thanadej Akarawongwatana fell asleep behind the wheel and lost control of the bus, causing it to swerve before hitting a bridge's guard rail and falling into a dry canal.

The driver sustained minor injuries and has been taken into police custody.

-- Tan Network 2011-03-07

Fatigue in any vehicle is always a killer. Having experienced falling asleep and running off the road in a truck in my stupid youth, after a 4 days job with little sleep, I could perhaps sympathise, but this was a field trip and not heavy physical work, as I had done. Culpable driving charges seem not to exist here, in word anyway in the law, but this is what this guy is guilty of. Previous pundits have noted and commented, but the bus trip was perhaps with some hi-so kids as high school kids from well to do families, and could well have been on this one. At any rate - Police and traffic are not on the same page. Log books do not exist here for drivers and zero tolerance for alcohol for heavy vehicle, taxis etc does not exist. For all we know this guy could have had a hard night on the turps and was late home and still off the planet when he drove them. At any rate - there are many reasons but no solutions until Police get off their asses and lock down some real rules and enforce them.

Edited March 7, 2011 by asiawatcher

[atyclb]

Sorry to be a realist; one word..... apathy . Hi So people were killed at the Santika Disko Fire but as we see, really nothing has changed.

[gotlost]

Sorry to be a realist; one word..... apathy . Hi So people were killed at the Santika Disko Fire but as we see, really nothing has changed.

Sad but true.

[katana]

Pics in Thairath.

http://www.thairath.co.th/content/region/154026

[Natan]

N O - N O - N O = another one ?! is everybody DRUNK - sick and sleeping? I think we have to wait until someone REALLY IMPORTANT will be involved in an accident like this and so many!

[lee68]

Happens here all the time,and it wont stop anytime soon,;because nobody;really;gives a shit here.Just another statistic that the;government;isn't;really;interested in.very sad,luckily nobody died,hope the injured have a speedy recovery.I live in chiang mai,and see at least 1 accident a day where i live,never stops.ive been driving here 16 years and it dont get any better!

Edited March 7, 2011 by lee68

[crazydrummerpauly]

Pics in Thairath.

http://www.thairath....t/region/154026

Sh.t, i was having a low day already, but those photos have finished me off - how much more it hits you in the guts when its an image rather than another chunk of text. I hope everybody takes a few seconds to click your live link - thanks for it, even though it made the blues get deeper tonight. I just don't get it - never will - Thais dote on their infants, and then tolerate all kinds of risks to their kids' lives once they go out into the world - if that was my son or daughter on the stretcher, they'd have to lock the driver and his bosses up to protect them.

Edited March 7, 2011 by crazydrummerpauly

[Pib]

Thailand is the land of mass transit...buses & vans of all sizes (and condition), taxis, song taows, tuk-tuks, motorcyles...yes, even motorcycles sometimes loaded up with around 5 people. It's also the land of no seat belts except for the driver or anyone in the front seat. And Thai soap shows routinely show vans full of people having a good time as they merrily go down the road at 120KM/Hr and none of them are wearing seat belts....no fear...their amulets will protect them. Driver training requirements, especially for bus/van drivers, is particularly nonexistent...and tough licensing requirements is a joke. Until the government decides to force a safe driving mindset change (which will take a least a half a decade) through tougher driving laws and enforcement of these laws, major bus/van accidents will continue to be a daily news story.

[featography]

No comment, i keep away from forums cause i get so,f***** pissed off,yes i know it's their country bla bla and so on and if we don't like it we pee off,but Christ oh mighty,people die,get injured,raped,murdered,ripped off,sexually abused, the list is endless,ahhhhhhhh...feel so f****** useless always hearing of these preventable acidents,......shit, i forgot...no comment!

To keep your sanity here, one must adopt mai pen rai attitude. Like jimbeam said, its just another way of culling the herd. Farang must make sure that we don't get culled in the process.

[anon467367354]

"fell asleep behind the wheel and lost control of the bus, causing it to swerve before hitting a bridge's guard rail and falling into a dry canal.

The driver sustained minor injuries and has been taken into police custody."

Is it possible to fall asleep and be in control of the bus? Again the one that seems to come out with the least injuries is the culprit. I expect to see more and more of this as everyone seems preoccupied with the latest TV stars and models and those with the power to actually do something probably don't even have a clue what it's like to ride in a bus. It's a poor people's problem, nothing will change.

[ballpoint]

No worries all those problems you listed, will be as priority, just after election. Now campaign started so we have to understand Govt has not much time but asap-after elections all will be under control, as ever was, since this govt took the power.

That you would use a tragic event involving children to push your political agenda speaks volumes about you.

[tinsom]

you hear about these accidents every week

thais have no regard for life there own or others im sure of it

they think it not happen to me so why should i care

songkran in two months see how many die in the first four day s

that will put it into perspective

same attitude every year

maybe the police do nothing as there is nothing to be made from it

better to arrest drunken tourist bar girls drug dealers

where the profits pay for there new houses and cars

[chris1967]

same old story; no accountability. QC on bus and taxi drivers in Bkk is long overdue; luckily no one was killed this time.

[gemini81]

Pics in Thairath.

http://www.thairath....t/region/154026

sheesh! not even recognizable as to whether it's a bus or just what if one didn't know. looks like scrap metal at a junk yard. tragic. another one fell asleep behind the wheel.

[arthurwait]

Another Thai piss head bus driver too drunk to stay awake. Driving pissed most likely, maybe even driving with chang in hand as many do here. How do they get away with it ? Because the police are too busy collecting bribes and the owner of the company has already paid the bribes needed to be able to operate the route so the police don't stop the buses/coaches. Obviously they know this so have absolutely no concern to anyone else and carry on driving drunk.

Edited March 7, 2011 by arthurwait

[TPI]

Another Thai piss head bus driver too drunk to stay awake. Driving pissed most likely, maybe even driving with chang in hand as many do here. How do they get away with it ? Because the police are too busy collecting bribes and the owner of the company has already paid the bribes needed to be able to operate the route so the police don't stop the buses/coaches. Obviously they know this so have absolutely no concern to anyone else and carry on driving drunk.

Hang on Arthur, how many millions of miles do Thai buses do in a day...every city has a bus terminal that must see 20-30 buses a day! Work it out, about 2000 towns times 20 (for instance) = 40,000 buses! 4 accidents a day is only 0.00001% of the total! Not bad when you look at the percentage most developed countries run too. (bad English I know ) So I think that everyone should lighten up, haven't you every drifted off while driving and watched the movie behind your eyeballs??

[crazydrummerpauly]

Another Thai piss head bus driver too drunk to stay awake. Driving pissed most likely, maybe even driving with chang in hand as many do here. How do they get away with it ? Because the police are too busy collecting bribes and the owner of the company has already paid the bribes needed to be able to operate the route so the police don't stop the buses/coaches. Obviously they know this so have absolutely no concern to anyone else and carry on driving drunk.

Hang on Arthur, how many millions of miles do Thai buses do in a day...every city has a bus terminal that must see 20-30 buses a day! Work it out, about 2000 towns times 20 (for instance) = 40,000 buses! 4 accidents a day is only 0.00001% of the total! Not bad when you look at the percentage most developed countries run too. (bad English I know ) So I think that everyone should lighten up, haven't you every drifted off while driving and watched the movie behind your eyeballs??

Facetious and insensitive comment - totally unacceptable reaction - "lighten up" - over maimed kids in an avoidable accident ???

Lets turn the question back to you but with the all-important twist: Haven't you ever(y) drifted off while driving and watched the movie behind your eyeballs WHILE IN CHARGE OF A BUS-LOAD OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS ? Outrageous post.