Americans, Australians injured in Phuket-bound tour bus crash

Phuket Gazette

Seven of the 18 tourists on board the bus were transferred to local hospitals. Photo: B Kung Somsak/Facebook

The driver says the bus hit a pothole, which caused a tyre to blowout and him to lose control of the vehicle. Photo: B Kung Somsak/Facebook

PHUKET: -- A tour bus carrying Australian and American tourists heading from Krabi to Phuket flipped and slammed into a wall of a house in Phang Nga early yesterday afternoon.

Seven of the 18 tourists on the bus were taken to hospital. The rest were administered first aid by rescue workers and then taken to their hotel in Patong.

Officers at the Phang Nga Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation office today confirmed that all seven tourists had suffered minor injuries only and had been already released from hospital.

The 35-year-old driver, Prayuth Phutubtim, told police that he hit a large pothole not far from Wat Loh Yoong in Takua Thung, just north of Phuket.

The pothole punctured one of the back-left tyres, causing Mr Prayuth to lose control of the vehicle. The bus then flipped onto its side and crashed into the wall of a house.

“We will continue our investigation into the crash,” said Khok Kloy Police Superintendent Somchai Tanprasert.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...rash-19339.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-11-05

thanks god it could have been worse than this ..... those potholes are dangerous and everywhere on every roads even in Bangkok.

3 things you can count on being in the news in Phuket every week. Minibus/Tourbus accidents injuring/killing tourists/expats, motorbike accidents injuring/killing tourists/expats, and tourist/expats falling/jumping to their deaths purposefully or by accident.

Purely speculation here, but isn't this the reason these large vehicles have dual rear tires? Is the driver saying that both tires burst? They "Look" ok in the photos.

Is there a possibility, just a teeny tiny little one, that he was going to fast? I know its a rare thing here. Maybe, just maybe he pressed the bus beyond its and his own capabilities.

Otherwise its one hell of a pothole and its also incredible that burst tire isn't shredded. Also curious is the fact the bus is on its right side when the left tire supposedly blew and he's on the wrong side of the road as well.

3 things you can count on being in the news in Phuket every week. Minibus/Tourbus accidents injuring/killing tourists/expats, motorbike accidents injuring/killing tourists/expats, and tourist/expats falling/jumping to their deaths purposefully or by accident.

Sad, but yeah, true. The only solution.......... get rid of all the tourists and ex-pats.

Purely speculation here, but isn't this the reason these large vehicles have dual rear tires? Is the driver saying that both tires burst? They "Look" ok in the photos.

Is there a possibility, just a teeny tiny little one, that he was going to fast? I know its a rare thing here. Maybe, just maybe he pressed the bus beyond its and his own capabilities.

Otherwise its one hell of a pothole and its also incredible that burst tire isn't shredded. Also curious is the fact the bus is on its right side when the left tire supposedly blew and he's on the wrong side of the road as well.

I too notcied that in the photo it's clear that the rear tyres "look" to be intact, certainly not a blow out which you would expect would be the only thing that would case the bus to loose control in the event of a puncture.

It's more likey that he swerved to avoid a pothole and lost control, or that he was going too fast. I guess we'll never know.

It's just very good new that nobody was seriously hurt.

It looks to me like this is one of the imported coaches rather than a locally made bus, the locally made ones usually crumple and end up in right old mess, this one looks quite sturdy and from the photo seems to have survived well... but there is only a small part visible in the photo anyway.

Perhaps the driver could let us know how fast he was going? The vast majority of big busses seem to go around 120 kmph and always in the outer lane if there are more than one lane (120 kmph for a bus is both illegal and insane)

3 things you can count on being in the news in Phuket every week. Minibus/Tourbus accidents injuring/killing tourists/expats, motorbike accidents injuring/killing tourists/expats, and tourist/expats falling/jumping to their deaths purposefully or by accident.

And one thing you can count on every day is the same recycled responses to the carefully selected news items chosen to put the wind up the doom and gloom, conspiracy enthusiast, they-all-hate-us expats.Everything in Thailand is just not up to the state of nirvana they left when they were forced to emigrate from farang utopia. It's a wonder there's any space left back in Europe and America since no one ever dies there or is involved in accidents or commits crimes.

WHY OH WHY OH DID I EVER LEAVE OHIO (or Manchester or Sydney)?

WHY DID I EVER LEAVE OHIO?

WHY DID I WANDER TO FIND WHAT LIES YONDER

WHEN LIFE WAS SO COZY AT HOME?

The 35-year-old driver, Prayuth Phutubtim, told police that he hit a large pothole not far from Wat Loh Yoong in Takua Thung, just north of Phuket.

Well, at least he managed to dodge the Pink Unicorn.

the driver didn't flee the scene! that must be a first for Thailand

Bad news at the beginning of tourist season. Most of us know better than to stay away from such places.

thanks god it could have been worse than this ..... those potholes are dangerous and everywhere on every roads even in Bangkok.

Could have been much worse ..Everytime I take one of these trips ( which is quite often ) You always feel like the Bus " Should " crash , the roads are ordinary , the drivers aggressive , and traffic Mach Mach !! I send " thanks " and am always happy when we reach the destination .

But ..Its a lottery really , then there are the servicing aspects of the bus fleet , and thats a Whole different story . I remember doing Bangkok to Phuket on a Bus ..13 Hours ..No , Never again Thanks .

PUNCTURE WHERE !!!!!!!!!! All the tyres from the pictures taken look fine to me in my humble opinion !!!!!!!!! Good to hear there were no deaths and only minor injuries

I tried drafting a huge double-decker bus (a Hat Yai - Phuket one) through Nakhon Sri Thammarat, as I wanted to make sure I was on the best route. I was in my Toyota sedan. He was going so fast on the narrow, curving roads that I finally gave up trying to keep up with him for safety reasons.

I drove road trains and rigs for years and the most common blowout is the inside tyre closets the differential to the kerb, and I would like a dollar for everyone I have changed! This is due to slight negative camber of the road away from the centre and the weight is mostly on that one tyre. But when it does blow it certainly does not cause a vehicle to flip. In fact even when you blow a front tyre (scary - as it drops the rim on the road and you go in the line where the rim digs in without being able to steer) you still rarely could flip it. Rear tyres - never. The pic looks to be a straight road and there is no pic of the pothole, and like other observant OP's the rear tyres are ALL in tact on the rims ... my opinion ... BS.

I tried drafting a huge double-decker bus (a Hat Yai - Phuket one) through Nakhon Sri Thammarat, as I wanted to make sure I was on the best route. I was in my Toyota sedan. He was going so fast on the narrow, curving roads that I finally gave up trying to keep up with him for safety reasons.

Drafting (closely behind the vehicle ahead) is to gain some of the other drivers momentum and nothing to do with the route.

It looks to me like this is one of the imported coaches rather than a locally made bus, the locally made ones usually crumple and end up in right old mess, this one looks quite sturdy and from the photo seems to have survived well...

It will be back on the road in no time! Even in case it is warped!

going to fast and wet slippery road dont make good sence came back from koh chang to bangkok and was upstaies went so fast and when was on flyover bangkok thought it was going to turn over made me feel sea sick in the end as it swayed about on the road why do we read about so many bus crash on here dont they have to pass a test to drive those double deckers

and as for the 3 things there plenty more then that more the drugging knifeings and mugging tourist now thailand has become a very dangerouse place but if im wrong let me know dont think i want to go back and live there now like me seasons and gren gren gras of home suburb london

3 things you can count on being in the news in Phuket every week. Minibus/Tourbus accidents injuring/killing tourists/expats, motorbike accidents injuring/killing tourists/expats, and tourist/expats falling/jumping to their deaths purposefully or by accident.

forget those that been druged stabed robbed mugged or even shot there no place like home thank god its not there

All coaches in Europe are fitted with speed limiters (100kmph) and Tachographs to record speed and driving time of ter I think these simple gadgets would helps reduce accidents here.

thanks god it could have been worse than this ..... those potholes are dangerous and everywhere on every roads even in Bangkok.

Could have been much worse ..Everytime I take one of these trips ( which is quite often ) You always feel like the Bus " Should " crash , the roads are ordinary , the drivers aggressive , and traffic Mach Mach !! I send " thanks " and am always happy when we reach the destination .

But ..Its a lottery really , then there are the servicing aspects of the bus fleet , and thats a Whole different story . I remember doing Bangkok to Phuket on a Bus ..13 Hours ..No , Never again Thanks .

Mach Mach

thanks god it could have been worse than this ..... those potholes are dangerous and everywhere on every roads even in Bangkok.

Can't wait for the F1 race in Bangkok. Should be the most exciting ever.

3 things you can count on being in the news in Phuket every week. Minibus/Tourbus accidents injuring/killing tourists/expats, motorbike accidents injuring/killing tourists/expats, and tourist/expats falling/jumping to their deaths purposefully or by accident.

And one thing you can count on every day is the same recycled responses to the carefully selected news items chosen to put the wind up the doom and gloom, conspiracy enthusiast, they-all-hate-us expats.Everything in Thailand is just not up to the state of nirvana they left when they were forced to emigrate from farang utopia. It's a wonder there's any space left back in Europe and America since no one ever dies there or is involved in accidents or commits crimes.

WHY OH WHY OH DID I EVER LEAVE OHIO (or Manchester or Sydney)?

WHY DID I EVER LEAVE OHIO?

WHY DID I WANDER TO FIND WHAT LIES YONDER

WHEN LIFE WAS SO COZY AT HOME?

Haha!! Home, Home on the range,, where every things perfect and there s no change ??

Purely speculation here, but isn't this the reason these large vehicles have dual rear tires? Is the driver saying that both tires burst? They "Look" ok in the photos.

Is there a possibility, just a teeny tiny little one, that he was going to fast? I know its a rare thing here. Maybe, just maybe he pressed the bus beyond its and his own capabilities.

Otherwise its one hell of a pothole and its also incredible that burst tire isn't shredded. Also curious is the fact the bus is on its right side when the left tire supposedly blew and he's on the wrong side of the road as well.

I was on a tour bus once when the tyre blew, and it didn't hit a pothole. Happens sometimes.

Just because the left hand tyre bursts it doesn't mean that the bus should fall on that side. The usual problem after a blow out is that the driver brakes, which causes the driver to lose control.

All coaches in Europe are fitted with speed limiters (100kmph) and Tachographs to record speed and driving time of ter I think these simple gadgets would helps reduce accidents here.

Someone said that in a previous thread about the same thing. my response is the same-TiT.

Gee ... do you suppose it rained before, during or after the crash? “We will continue our investigation into the crash,” said Khok Kloy Police Superintendent Somchai Tanprasert.

thanks god it could have been worse than this ..... those potholes are dangerous and everywhere on every roads even in Bangkok.

But aren't they gonna have a F1 race on those same roads in Bangkok?

Sounds interesting.

Purely speculation here, but isn't this the reason these large vehicles have dual rear tires? Is the driver saying that both tires burst? They "Look" ok in the photos.

Is there a possibility, just a teeny tiny little one, that he was going to fast? I know its a rare thing here. Maybe, just maybe he pressed the bus beyond its and his own capabilities.

Otherwise its one hell of a pothole and its also incredible that burst tire isn't shredded. Also curious is the fact the bus is on its right side when the left tire supposedly blew and he's on the wrong side of the road as well.

I too notcied that in the photo it's clear that the rear tyres "look" to be intact, certainly not a blow out which you would expect would be the only thing that would case the bus to loose control in the event of a puncture.

It's more likey that he swerved to avoid a pothole and lost control, or that he was going too fast. I guess we'll never know.

It's just very good new that nobody was seriously hurt.

It looks to me like this is one of the imported coaches rather than a locally made bus, the locally made ones usually crumple and end up in right old mess, this one looks quite sturdy and from the photo seems to have survived well... but there is only a small part visible in the photo anyway.

Maybe it was a little mistake from the newspaper and they actually meant BLACK left tire, instead of back.

I tried drafting a huge double-decker bus (a Hat Yai - Phuket one) through Nakhon Sri Thammarat, as I wanted to make sure I was on the best route. I was in my Toyota sedan. He was going so fast on the narrow, curving roads that I finally gave up trying to keep up with him for safety reasons.

Of course drafting is perfectly safe as long as the bus is under say ... 100 kph (or some other arbitrary speed)?

3 things you can count on being in the news in Phuket every week. Minibus/Tourbus accidents injuring/killing tourists/expats, motorbike accidents injuring/killing tourists/expats, and tourist/expats falling/jumping to their deaths purposefully or by accident.

You forgot gold chain snatchings... !!