Five Killed, 49 Injured When Bus Falls Into Ravine In Phitsanulok

[thaikahuna]

When are these coach and minivan companies going to be held to a higher standard? I understand that this is the only transport some people can afford but I will make the same argument I make to a friend of mine about the red buses in BKK. Aren't the poor people entitled to a SAFE and comfortable ride as well? I hope they sue the pants off of them.

[HarryMilton]

Been on this route many times, with diffrent bus companies. The bus drivers have to remember that they are not driving F1 cars, and stop hitting sharp bends at 200MPH ! So dangerous

Total fantasy, why do you waste time typing this nonsense? I'd love to see your example of a 200 mph bus, or even a 200kph bus.

[Johnnie99]

I drive a lot around Thailand and I'm forever seeing crashed buses by the side of the road. Admittedly not all of them have fatalities or even serious injury, but I'd bet that a bus crashes somewhere EVERY DAY in Thailand.

Somebody once likened the number of people killed in bus crashes in Thailand as being similar in numbers to a fully loaded Boeing 747 crashing every 3 months... I'm not sure if that's current or true, but it shows the scale of the carnage.

When will the law change to ensure basic safety standards for bus operators in Thailand?

The laws of Thailand are as strong as most Western countries. It is the enforcement which fails the human sacrifices of corruption.

[mike speakman]

i have driven behind some of the long distance busses and some of them look unroadworthy tyres and maybe brakes in bad condition and when you look from behind or down one side the bus is twisted like the rear is hanging to the left this will alter the centre of gravity when taking a right hand bend at speed the bus will lean more to the left i think the vehicle needs a proper safty inspection to determin the cause .

[Johnnie99]

Been on this route many times, with diffrent bus companies. The bus drivers have to remember that they are not driving F1 cars, and stop hitting sharp bends at 200MPH ! So dangerous

Total fantasy, why do you waste time typing this nonsense? I'd love to see your example of a 200 mph bus, or even a 200kph bus.

A healthy sense of sarcasm at some posts will help you, Harry.

[15Peter20]

This is the route many foreigners take when doing visa runs between Chiang Mai and Vientianne in Laos. I've done it more times than I care to remember. There are only two companies working that route - SukSa Tour and Chakrapong Tour. Over the years the quality of their buses has declined - they're using the same ones from at least 7-8 years ago.

[EyesWideOpen]

Five dead, 53 hurt in Thai bus cliff plunge

BANGKOK, April 8, 2013 (AFP) - Five people died, including a seven-month-old baby and a Belgian woman, and 53 were injured when a Thai tour bus plummeted off a hillside in northern Thailand after its brakes failed, police said Monday.

Passengers said the coach had swerved several times on winding mountain roads, before it ploughed through a fence and down a steep ravine, according to local police in Phitsanulok province 380 kilometres (235 miles) from Bangkok.

"Five people were killed -- two men and three women, including one woman from Belgium -- and a seven-month-old baby boy," district police captain Sane Promrut told AFP on by telephone.

He said the bus, which was travelling from northeastern Udonthani province to the main northern city of Chiang Mai, plunged about 20 metres (66 feet) in the early morning crash.

Police said the dead Belgian woman was in her early twenties.

Hospital staff said the mother of the baby boy was in a critical condition, with internal bleeding, while the child's father had suffered broken legs in the accident.

A 30-year-old Belgian man and a Japanese man were also among the injured.

"The bus had problems with its brakes and was speeding before it crashed over the cliff," Sane said, adding that passengers had smelled burning and the driver, who is also in a critical condition, had stopped to try and fix the problem before the crash.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2013-04-08

No doubt the speculation mongers, "flee the scene" critics and general Thai bashers will now be rushing to their keyboards to withdraw many comments denigrating the non-fleeing, critically injured driver who apparently did stop to try to address the problem with the bus before the accident.

As many have said here though don't hold your breath while they go off the radar.

Think they would say the only reason he did NOT flee the scene was that he was critically injured....It seems that in most crashes like this where the driver is not injured, he flees the scene. Of course the classic one was the train driver who fled the scene in that major train wreck in south Thailand... Edited April 8, 2013 by EyesWideOpen

[hullupullo]

Bangkok Post updated article, has now name of dead Belgian women on it.

[Almera]

Mai pen rai, people. Mai pen rai.

You no unnerstan Thai people. You no unnerstan Thailan.

Edited April 8, 2013 by Almera

[phuturatica]

May all the dead RIP and I hope the injured make a speedy recovery.

[Almera]

This is the route many foreigners take when doing visa runs between Chiang Mai and Vientianne in Laos. I've done it more times than I care to remember. There are only two companies working that route - SukSa Tour and Chakrapong Tour. Over the years the quality of their buses has declined - they're using the same ones from at least 7-8 years ago.

Surely there are other companies going to other places along the way, KK or Udon for example, then go with them and get another bus from there to Nong Khai.

[Toscano]

I dare say it not a question of improving the laws , there is a lack of enforcement of the laws . police seem to do formal road checks , more concerned with tax than road safety . Police seem to operate between 8am - midday and in the afternoon till not later than 4pm . There must be hundreds of anomolies that are overlooked , like children as young as 9 riding motor cycles , with a pillion passenger as well , jumping red lights , drink driving , cars reconstructed from 2 crashed vehicles , Buses that travel long distances overnight with only one driver , vans that do likewise and travel too fast . One could add to the list interminably .

[johnlandy]

another tragedy .... RIP

Wouldn't it be better doing something about the slaughter on Thai roads rather than hoping for "requiescat in pace" as that will serve no useful purpose, and even if it did it means absolutely nothing to a Buddhist

Edited April 8, 2013 by johnlandy

[DesflyTdesme]

(RIP) Like I said before it's too many driving tragedies in
Thailand they need to enforce driving rules there. I've written about the
rules before buses, tour buses, especially school buses / Vans, big
trucks, and any type of transportation of tourist, local, business, or
schools, should not be driving the same speed as individual drivers or the
posted speed limit oh you don't have speed limits, is there a bell ringing yet
? Get speed limits, then you can build up your police department because they
would give tickets. How many more Thai citizens, men, women, and children and
faithful tourist need to die because you won't enforce this law? They are
holding others people’s life’s at stake, the public trust you to be their
driver, also they are trusting you with their life’s. To be careful and to be
extra safe knowing you’re not driving yourself around but you are chaperoning
people around. God Bless the people who have died and who are injured in this
unfortunate accident. Also thank you god that they are not Airplane pilots.
(Please check the last post I have written about this same topic…… Wow…..

[balo]

So what was the reason for the accident ?

Driver falling asleep ?

Brakes failed?

RIP

[EyesWideOpen]

Would be curious to see at what level of bus accidents that the government would step in with some major safety laws. One a month? One a week? One a day??

Clearly the bus companies are not doing a good job at policing themselves.

I suspect they see accidents as simply a cost of doing business, a fact of little comfort to the families who have lost loved ones..

[OzMick]

If you happen to be in a bus, and the driver is driving badly or too fast, or appears he's dozing off - there's nothing effective that you, as a farang, can do about it. If you make a comment (not even a complaint) the driver will immediately get offended and probably get angry - along with some Thai words that you won't find in a dictionary. If there are any hostesses there, they will immediately defensive and, without exception, they will tell you "every thing ok. No plobem."

Even if you ask to get off the bus (which I did one time), the driver will not stop, and the hostesses will again shield and make excuses for him.

What happened to the driver, btw? Did he go running of in to the rice paddies?

Not so. On an afternoon bus from Sukhothai to BKK saw the driver "doing a noddy" after dark. Told the hostie and she gave him a big slap across the back of his skull, drivers were changed at next stop. Other staff in the bus are not there to risk their life on a sleepy driver.

[GuyTrouillard]

RT @191Thailand: KomChadLuek reporting a 7-y-o boy among the 5 dead in the bus crash in Phitsanulok. They say 2 males & 3 females. All Thai.

A Belgium newspaper states that a Belgium female is amongst the death

[maddermax]

I fully agree that until this country takes enforcing the law and road safety seriously these accidents will continue to occur. Somebody needs to root out the corruption and extortion that is going on. However and unfortunately, as the system is riddled with it to the top, it is unlikely that anything will be done. Life is also cheap in Asia to the authorities but obviously not to the relatives and friends of those who died.

[TheWalkingMan]

Seems like you roll the dice with dud odds when riding these buses.

[laislica]

another tragedy .... RIP

Wouldn't it be better doing something about the slaughter on Thai roads rather than hoping for "requiescat in pace" as that will serve no useful purpose, and even if it did it means absolutely nothing to a Buddhist

As has been said many times in this forum.

The RIP is a gesture of comfort and compassion for the relatives and friends of a lost but treasured loved one who may read these posts. Curtsey and civility does not cost a penny!

I wonder how you would feel to read a post like yours on a thread involving one or more of your loved ones?

From my experience, not all Thais are Buddhist and I think you may be confusing nationality with their belief system. I would agree that there and many people who have an "up to you" attitude and couldn't care less about anyone but themselves, but I do not think it is fair to paint all with the same broad "Buddhist" brush.

Many Thai Buddhists, my wife included, are saddened and sickened by death and injury caused by accidents like this.

They are also sickened by the corruption in the authorities that are the root cause of the problems (IMHO)

That being said, do you have more or better suggestions in addition to the many suggestions that this thread has mentioned?

[backtonormal]

Ask yourself why the driver runs away, if not injured, and the company pay their way out of trouble. Who really owns all the buses and why are they untouchable. This scares the crap out of me because the wife and 3 kids have just boarded a bus from Khon Kaen to Chiang Mai.

[LUSHGOAT]

Some of the bus drivers are down right crazy I was travelling on a bus and the driver was driving like a lunatic I kicked up a stink and he drove a bit better. My wife told me the government made an effort to enforce the law and have the buses roadworthy and in good condition but the boss of one of the biggest companies replied enforce the law and I will sack all the employees and close the company so what do they do.

[Chrisswe]

A warning should be send to all tourists who com to Thailand : To travel with a tourist bus is the most dangerous travel you can do !! The travelers must be aware of those driver's have no fix working time, they can run the bus until the end. To maintain this careless driving they use drug's, so when the drug run out of effect then all understand you are in deep trouble. Remember a human life in Thailand is nothing worth even if you are a farang.

[lookingeast]

Will this ever stop?

And please: spare me the "it happens everywhere"- bs!

In 40 years back home, I haven't read about as many fatal bus- accidents as I have here in the last 3 months.

It IS about how a country enforces laws, how it values education and safety etc.

RIP the victims

Well said,especially : "It IS about how a country enforces laws, how it values education and safety etc."

[moe666]

If someone started collecting statistics of accidents and deaths by bus company, people could start choosing the safest company to go with. Could even make the bus companies invest a bit in safety.

, people could start choosing the safest company to go with.

There ain't one.

Believe it or not there are several that have safe operating procedure. nakon Air carries 2 to 3 drivers depending on route as well as Sombat tours carries 2 drivers on there Chiang Mai, Bangkok run. Know the facts before spouting nonsense

[lookingeast]

This sucks. I have travelled on this bus route before for visa runs to Laos. The road is very windy and there are many sharp corners. Most drivers are good but the odd one or two are crazy. They drive so fast as they know the road very well. It would not surprise me if the bus over shot a turn or there wad a mechanical failure like we saw in the south recently.

I will say this.... Most foreign tourists do think that anyone that is killed is terrible. However from my experience life is very cheap in Thailand. If it doesn't affect a thai person individually another Thai loosing his or her life won't bother them that much. Sad but true anyone who thinks I'm bull shitting hasn't lived in Thailand long enough to see this sort of thing play out regularly.

What have you got against koalas ? At a guess, i's say that no-one is ever going to Like or Quote your posts while you've got a koala being mashed up for your avatar, because it would look like they are endorsing koala-bashing !;-)

[yasorab]

When oh when will the Thai's going to get it that you need to put steel armco barriers on roadsides with "klongs" and deep trenches. They are doing a new bypass refit near me and the trench on the near side of the "UN LIT" stretch of road is 4 mtrs. deep.The company that are undertaking to do the work have "SAFETY FIRST" stickers all over their plant too, what a joke !!!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Believe it or not there are several that have safe operating procedure. nakon Air carries 2 to 3 drivers depending on route as well as Sombat tours carries 2 drivers on there Chiang Mai, Bangkok run. Know the facts before spouting nonsense

It's not just the staffing of backup drivers, but also their manner of driving and the mechanical condition of the buses as well.

That said, I've never had a bad experience on a Nakon Chai Air bus and agree with your assessment. Unfortunately, they only serve a limited number of routes.

I'm not familiar with Sombat Tours. Any more info or links on them?

Overall, though, I'd say the following bus travel advice would be good to heed for any travelers in Thailand:

--Stick to bus companies with good reputations and safety records like Nakhon Chai Air.

--Try to avoid overnight trips wherever possible, since darkness, sleepy drivers and poor visibility and lighting can contribute to accidents.

--Be aware of the route that your bus will be taking. Although there are no guarantees or absolutes, routes that have winding roads with many turns and speed grades seem to contribute to bus accidents.

Lastly, I'm not sure I'd agree that buses are the most dangerous form of public transportation in Thailand. They do carry larger numbers of passengers per bus, but I think you'd generally find that public transport vans have very similar kinds of problems and tragedies on a regular basis. In those cases, probably more due to speeding and careless drivers than mechanical problems.

Edited April 8, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[laislica]

We have used the overnight bus from Phuket to Bangkok, changed at Morchit and then gone the 6 hours to Khon Kaen. No problems, the overnight bus didn't have the games stations and passengers slept OK.

The bus to Khon Kaen had the full works and it was impossible to sleep with the noise of different "shoot em up" games being played.

We travel on the minibuses to Bangkok very often, there is no train available from our location and we don't drive.

Depending on when you want to travel and how much prior notice you have, there may or may not be a plane available - if at all.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that to get to the airport involves 1.5 hours via a baht bus, minivan, baht bus or skytrain, or a taxi anyway!

Overnight trains are only acceptable in first class (IMHO) and again, they may not be available.

What else shall we do?

If it's going to happen then it will - so why worry?
As the song says: worry get's you nowhere at all!

Edited April 8, 2013 by laislica