3-year old girl severely injured after fall from moving Bangkok school van

[webfact]

Girl Severely Injured After Fall From Moving School Van

BANGKOK: -- 3-year old girl is fighting for his life in hospital after she fell down from a moving school van and was crushed under its wheels.

Parita Chanmontol who was nicknamed "Por Chai" by her parents was on her way home from the kindergarten in Assumption Bangrak College in Bangkok when she opened the school van′s door as it sped along Soi Charoen Nakorn 18 and tumbled onto the road.

The vehicle′s back wheel smashed her rib and shoulder. A rib bone also punctured her lung. She was sent to Samitivej Hospital and her condition is described as very severe.

Mr. Wuttipong Suwansirisilpa, 46, the van driver, said a 6th grader was manning the door, opening and closing the door when the van dropped off children at their houses.

He said he dropped the 6th grader and other students off to buy food at a 7-11 store in Soi Charoen Nakorn 18 and continued on his way with Parita onboard. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Wuttipong said, he heard the car door opened, so he looked into the rear window and saw Parita falling out of the car.

Full story: http://www.khaosod.co.th/en/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRNM016QTRNak01TlE9PQ==

-- KHAOSOD English 2013-07-06

[laurentbkk]

that is terrible , I hope this little girl will recover .... what to say more ? another lack in security system of those vans and lack in the driver who should pay more attention. I see those vans everyday , over crowed with small kids etc .....

[EyesWideOpen]

My daughter starts school next year. There will be no van rides in her future.

[retell]

My daughter starts school next year. There will be no van rides in her future.

agree with that my little boy is to precious to be riding with those death-traps

will be happy to spend 6000 on diesel a month just to make sure he gets from and to the school in 1 piece.

hope the girl will recover soon and that the school and the driver take responsibillity for this terrible thing that happend

Edited July 6, 2013 by retell

[arthurwait]

Wow just wow. They had a 6th grader manning the door until they dropped them off to buy snacks and then left 3 year olds alone in the back who copy everything other people do.

I hope she recovers and finally these irresponsible idiots are made to take responsibility.

[terminatorchiangmai]

Not only are these vans not safe , the drivers drive like crazy also all the time.

No way i would let my child get in the car with one of those maniacs

[bornredi]

poor girl, was this her first van ride? She was never taught not to open the door in a moving vehicle, now the nanny staters will attack

[pedro01]

Are you for real?

Nanny staters? How about common sensers?

She is three years old. The door should have been locked.

Edited July 6, 2013 by pedro01

[DocN]

...am I missing something here?

A 6th grader was guarding the door?

What about (sorry, no native English- speaker here) the child-safety- lock at the door?

And when the 6th grader was dropped off and the little girl was alone, in the back of the car? Mai pen rai?

Idiots, everywhere you look!

I hope the little one recovers quick and fully.

And I hope, the responsible (???) persons in this case get....oh, <deleted>, they will get nothing ...as usual!

[culicine]

I hope the girl fully recovers from this ordeal. Now why was a 6th grader manning the door? Is Assumption College really that poor they can't afford to put a teacher in the van to assist and look after the kids? Thai teachers are normally employed until 5.30-6pm, well in time for them to return to school. Not sure why parents risk their kids' lives using these vans (unless the physically can't take them to school) - they can charge up to 10K a month for the service too, much more than the cost of petrol in most cases. Some hefty compensation will be in order, and of course no big heads will roll.

[IMA_FARANG]

This was quite a few years ago now, but as a teenager my Thai GF's oldest daughter had a job on a similar van. The job was watching the schoolchildren going to and from school and then escorting them on and off the bus through the traffic to their wanting parents when they got the children home.

The rules she had to obey were these:

1. She escorted and guided the children to and from the street into the van and out of the van to the sidewalk. The children were NOT allowed to exit the van until she was there to guide them.

2. She always sat by the van door, and that door was NEVER opened by anyone except her or the driver.

3. And (though not exactly relevant) she NEVER delivered any child except to the child's parents or a relative she knew. If she wasn't sure she would personally escort the child to the child's house and the child's parents.

That was about 1987 to 1988 when she had that job.

Wonder what's happened since then?

[lee b]

No Child locks. Oh what a crazy question ! Get well soon girl !!

[colinneil]

Driver is covering up .Many times i have seen these vans full of children driving with the sliding door open.The door was probably open not closed . 3 years old opening the door when it was moving BULL ..IT

[LuckyLew]

awful, too many sad stories involving kids in the news these days

My daughter will never go in a school van or bus

Heck ... my GF's brother in law drives like and idiot and I will not let my little girl on the car with him.

[Thai at Heart]

Kids manning doors. Brilliant. One day someone is going to run over the ones manning the school gates too.

[DocN]

This was quite a few years ago now, but as a teenager my Thai GF's oldest daughter had a job on a similar van. The job was watching the schoolchildren going to and from school and then escorting them on and off the bus through the traffic to their wanting parents when they got the children home.

The rules she had to obey were these:

1. She escorted and guided the children to and from the street into the van and out of the van to the sidewalk. The children were NOT allowed to exit the van until she was there to guide them.

2. She always sat by the van door, and that door was NEVER opened by anyone except her or the driver.

3. And (though not exactly relevant) she NEVER delivered any child except to the child's parents or a relative she knew. If she wasn't sure she would personally escort the child to the child's house and the child's parents.

That was about 1987 to 1988 when she had that job.

Wonder what's happened since then?

People started not giving a sh1t on a daily basis?!

[Sunisalom]

that is terrible , I hope this little girl will recover .... what to say more ? another lack in security system of those vans and lack in the driver who should pay more attention. I see those vans everyday , over crowed with small kids etc .....

You are wrong!

The school should provide van assistants. It is the van driver's job to drive safely from A to B. It is his job to deliver and collect.

It is the school's responsibility to ensure doors that have central locking when the van is moving, and the central locking is withdrawn when the van stops. To blame the driver in this incident is just another pure crass attack upon Thais doing a job. In fact, it's quite pathetic!

And I will take offence at the next set of posts I read with detriment to the driver. Get a life, and don't harrass little that you know. I travelled in a school van for 5 years, and never an issue. Those drivers are vetted.

Over-crowded with small kids? You want to pay their parents the money to get them to school? Blame the bloody government, not the driver..... Baa - Khun ting tong na!

[Sunisalom]

Driver is covering up .Many times i have seen these vans full of children driving with the sliding door open.The door was probably open not closed . 3 years old opening the door when it was moving BULL ..IT

And you are? Inspector Morse??

[stoneyboy]

Are you for real?Nanny staters? How about common sensers?She is three years old. The door should have been locked.

At three years old mate she should be sitting in a child seat safely belted up,that's where my kids are on any journey,as for nanny states and common sense I'm thankful I was taught or my parents were forced to abide by the rules.

[Sunisalom]

This was quite a few years ago now, but as a teenager my Thai GF's oldest daughter had a job on a similar van. The job was watching the schoolchildren going to and from school and then escorting them on and off the bus through the traffic to their wanting parents when they got the children home.

The rules she had to obey were these:

1. She escorted and guided the children to and from the street into the van and out of the van to the sidewalk. The children were NOT allowed to exit the van until she was there to guide them.

2. She always sat by the van door, and that door was NEVER opened by anyone except her or the driver.

3. And (though not exactly relevant) she NEVER delivered any child except to the child's parents or a relative she knew. If she wasn't sure she would personally escort the child to the child's house and the child's parents.

That was about 1987 to 1988 when she had that job.

Wonder what's happened since then?

Cost cutting, by government funding - that's what happened. Chalerm is the van master..... he took a school van to Hong Kong, as it was mental age appropriate

[Sunisalom]

"Police believe Parita, who was sitting near the door, opened the door out of her curiosity"

A three year old can open a van door? I have a 4 yo and I am sure she could not open one of those van doors. Once again, some gorilla has done something stupid and dangerous and does not have the gumption to take responsibility for it.

Please explain what the gorilla did.

[Thai at Heart]

This was quite a few years ago now, but as a teenager my Thai GF's oldest daughter had a job on a similar van. The job was watching the schoolchildren going to and from school and then escorting them on and off the bus through the traffic to their wanting parents when they got the children home.

The rules she had to obey were these:

1. She escorted and guided the children to and from the street into the van and out of the van to the sidewalk. The children were NOT allowed to exit the van until she was there to guide them.

2. She always sat by the van door, and that door was NEVER opened by anyone except her or the driver.

3. And (though not exactly relevant) she NEVER delivered any child except to the child's parents or a relative she knew. If she wasn't sure she would personally escort the child to the child's house and the child's parents.

That was about 1987 to 1988 when she had that job.

Wonder what's happened since then?

People started not giving a sh1t on a daily basis?!

You are lucky nothing bad happened while daughter was responsible for the job.

A child should not be responsible for this job.

[Sunisalom]

Are you for real? Nanny staters? How about common sensers? She is three years old. The door should have been locked.

With a pad-lock?

[Sunisalom]

You all sit there in your Western minds knocking, complaining, not understanding. You see only your way, but the majority came this way for one thing. It's about time you started with 'grengjai' to my country. I have recently joined this site, and I have studied in the west. Coming home I have a lot to be proud of.... but you wingeing lot just winge, and think it's fun. You are a disgrace in attitude to this country, my country, an dthe people of the country around you. You need to sit back and be grateful for your acceptance as a visitor. That is all you are; A visitor. Stop taking the piss out of everything your read.... mai dai.. mai dee....

[joeaverage]

My daughter starts school next year. There will be no van rides in her future.

my daughter took the van every day for 2 years until we changed to a school with no van service.

every morning one of the teachers was in the van manning the door.

there is no way in hell a 3 year old can open a van door.

my kid is 6 and she would have a hard time moving the door, let alone even popping the lock.

I cant even imagine getting that phonecall

[joeaverage]

You all sit there in your Western minds knocking, complaining, not understanding. You see only your way, but the majority came this way for one thing. It's about time you started with 'grengjai' to my country. I have recently joined this site, and I have studied in the west. Coming home I have a lot to be proud of.... but you wingeing lot just winge, and think it's fun. You are a disgrace in attitude to this country, my country, an dthe people of the country around you. You need to sit back and be grateful for your acceptance as a visitor. That is all you are; A visitor. Stop taking the piss out of everything your read.... mai dai.. mai dee....

blah blah, send your kid to assumption or any private school and you are paying a premium for an improved level of service. that includes believing your child is safe in transport and not monitored by a 6th grader.

i don't care where you studied or what you think you know, negligence where children are concerned is not forgivable. visitor or otherwise.

[richard_smith237]

Like many other comments on this thread, mine are just speculation:

I speculate that a 3 year old is not strong enough to open the van door. I'll speculate that the van door was never properly closed in the first place. I speculate that the van door slid open under the vans movement and the little girl tried to keep it closed and fell out.

Issues here:

A School Van carrying infants without child seats, seat belts or child locks on the doors.

An infant cannot be responsible or blamed for falling out of a moving vehicle. The only adult present must be accountable for this, as mush those who permitted the child to ride in a vehicle unsafe for a child in the first place.

Recently: A friend of my Wife had her 5 year old run 10m across the car park to us. He'd unbelted himself from the car seat and opened the door. I had to get my Wife's friend to engage the child locks there and then in front of me...

It does seem to me that there are too many tragic stories all of which originate from a basic lack of responsibility, which in itself stems from a lack of accountability.

[richard_smith237]

You all sit there in your Western minds knocking, complaining, not understanding. You see only your way, but the majority came this way for one thing. It's about time you started with 'grengjai' to my country. I have recently joined this site, and I have studied in the west. Coming home I have a lot to be proud of.... but you wingeing lot just winge, and think it's fun. You are a disgrace in attitude to this country, my country, an dthe people of the country around you. You need to sit back and be grateful for your acceptance as a visitor. That is all you are; A visitor. Stop taking the piss out of everything your read.... mai dai.. mai dee....

Try joining Panthip forum. You would see many similar responses from Thai's regarding the same topic.

If you don't care whether or not a child of 3 years old falls out of a moving school van then I would suggest you are a disgrace to your nation.

The reason many foreigners have an opinion and voice it on this forum is because they care so much about Thailand. It is heart breaking to see such a wonderful country trip over itself so frequently.

While recognising that many aspects of Thailand are wonderful, we as foreigners would also love to see common sense and improvement in many areas. We have a right to an opinion, we foreigners have even jointed an 'expat' website to express this opinion.

I have a right to an opinion here, my Thai friends, Wife and her family value that opinion - I'd hazard a guess and suggest that they value my opinion of Thailand significantly more than they would yours, Sinisalom. Regardless of the visa I hold my opinion remains valid, to suggest that someone has no right to an opinion simply because they are a visitor is an example of the attitudes which hold areas of Thailand back.

[Thai at Heart]

You all sit there in your Western minds knocking, complaining, not understanding. You see only your way, but the majority came this way for one thing. It's about time you started with 'grengjai' to my country. I have recently joined this site, and I have studied in the west. Coming home I have a lot to be proud of.... but you wingeing lot just winge, and think it's fun. You are a disgrace in attitude to this country, my country, an dthe people of the country around you. You need to sit back and be grateful for your acceptance as a visitor. That is all you are; A visitor. Stop taking the piss out of everything your read.... mai dai.. mai dee....

Rather sad to, having received all that useful western education to resort to sticking your fingers in your ears and covering your eyes.

Wake up. Nowhere is perfect, and some places are better than others. Live with it and do all you can to make Thailand a better place for Thais and everyone else.

[hgma]

best wishes for the little one and a speedy recovery wished!!!

Why in Godsname,doesn't ANY Thai opens his big mouth in public.

With me 80% of the students at my kids school are driven to and from school by private cars.

We almost ALL have to use the same road to and from the school to see these bloody idiots driving the rest of the kids to school.

I did my part...taking 1 driver apart (verbally)when he zigzagged through traffic and red light and we encountered at the school yard.

Now what happened is that the parents looked at my if i was some sort of alien moron but failed to support me.

Oh btw i speak Thai....more then enough to make my case(s)