Thai State Railways train derails in North, foreign tourists injured

[webfact]

Thai State Railways train derails in North, service suspended
By English News

PHRAE, July 17 – A State Railways of Thailand (SRT) train has derailed in this mountainous northern Thai province, injuring more than 40 passengers, mostly foreign tourists, and temporarily halted the North-bound train earlier today.

Seven carriages of the Bangkok-Chiang Mai train derailed in Denchai district.

Forty-one passengers, mostly foreign tourists, were taken to hospital. Eleven passengers were severely hurt. About 200 passengers were stranded, waiting for a train from Lampang to carry them to their destination, Chiang Mai.

Meanwhile, Bangkok-Chiang Mai trains suspended service, but train service from Bangkok to Denchai is running.

Initial inspection indicated the accident was caused by faulty track. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2013-07-17

[harrry]

What is the bet the foreign tourist will pay hospital bills for this that would be covered everywhere else by the transport company.

[webfact]

ACCIDENT
Train derails in Phrae
The Nation


Passengers fled the scene.

The northern train heading to Chiang Mai derailed at 3am today in Phrae, causing injuries to some 30 passengers.

BANGKOK: -- All train carriages fell off from the track, as the train derailed near Denchai district. Over 290 passengers were on board.

Prapas Chongsanguan, governor of the State Railway of Thailand, initially attributed the accident to the poor condition of the track. Maintenance has been planned for the sloping and curvy point where the accident happened.

Buses and vans were mobilised from Denchai, to transport affected passengers, local and foreign, to Chiang Mai. Three foreigners suffered from broken arms and 24 from minor injuries, and they were sent to the district’s hospital.

Chalermwoot Rakkhatiwong, Denchai district chief, said that all passengers have been transferred out of the scene.

The train left Bangkok at 7pm on July 16.

Train schedules are changed after the accident. Speed trains from Chiang Mai to Bangkok scheduled for today will be cancelled. Normal train from Chiang Mai will be operated as usual, but passengers in Chiang Mai, Lamphun and Lampang will have to take buses to board the train at the Uttaradit station. Affected passengers can return tickets and receive full compensation.


-- The Nation 2013-07-17

[laurentbkk]

Terrible tragedy , surprised it didnt happen earlier when you see the state of the railways here .... I wish prompt recovery to all injured passenger.

[hmj]

You beat me to it harrry. I have the same question.

Who is going to pay the hospital bill of the foreign tourists? The railway is
operated by the Thai State.

[pb1936]

Not at all surprising, unfortunately. The rail system is in shocking condition and desperately needs upgrading, never mind the high speed project.

[retell]

how did it derail looks like it flew a couple meters

the passengers will be very happy with their refund for the ticket

and yes who's gonna pick up the hospital bill ?

[NongKhaiKid]

SRT Gov attributes cause to the poor state of the track but they still operate.

Maintenance etc was of course planned but for when, the 12th of Never ?

[tomross46]

This is why we need a high speed train. If is a high speed train, then you have no survivors.

Tourist killed on the rail, on the bus, on the boats and in the taxi. The only place we have not seen accidents is in the horse drawn carts in Lampang. Lampang is a safe tourist destination.

[webfact]

30 passengers injured in Thailand train accident

Authorities say at least 30 passengers, mostly foreign tourists, were slightly injured when a train derailed in the mountains of northern Thailand. It was the second derailment on the same route in a month.

State Railway of Thailand governor Prapas Jongsanguan said the overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai skidded off the tracks early Wednesday in Phrae province. Seven out of 10 carriages flipped onto their sides.

Railway authorities believe the accident was caused by old tracks that were scheduled for repair.

There were no Russian tourists, according to the Russian Embassy in Thailand.

Source: http://english.ruvr.ru/news/2013_07_17/30-passengers-injured-in-Thailand-train-accident-5899/

-- THE VOICE OF RUSSIA 2013-07-17

[Asiantravel]

Not at all surprising, unfortunately. The rail system is in shocking condition and desperately needs upgrading, never mind the high speed project.

is there any reason to expect/hope for higher maintenance standards if there was a high-speed link?

[kartman]

Can see it's the Falangs fault from second picture track built for Thais all those overweight foreigners made it topple over.

[soi41]

Don't let a minor detail, like a train falling of the rails, spoil the party over the predicted touristrevenue of 2 trillion+ next year!

But the dirty beaches, the scams, the killings ?? Mai phen rai ! We are Thai ! The best in the world!

[nakhonandy]

 

Not at all surprising, unfortunately. The rail system is in shocking condition and desperately needs upgrading, never mind the high speed project.

is there any reason to expect/hope for higher maintenance standards if there was a high-speed link?

 

Nope!

Never use them, I prefer the bus, even if their safety record is not exactly perfect.

get well soon to all.

[alanferdi]

What is the bet the foreign tourist will pay hospital bills for this that would be covered everywhere else by the transport company.

Thai interpretation: if foreigner did not come to Thailand this will not happen. Now Foreigner pay or go home!

[harrry]

What is the bet the foreign tourist will pay hospital bills for this that would be covered everywhere else by the transport company.

Thai interpretation: if foreigner did not come to Thailand this will not happen. Now Foreigner pay or go home!

Correction.....

Pay AND go home.

[CrisRMenumate]

You beat me to it harrry. I have the same question.

Who is going to pay the hospital bill of the foreign tourists? The railway is

operated by the Thai State.

Paid for by the state at a state hospital in Denchai... do you want to go to that hospital?

[lowushatin]

guess it was bound to happen.

[requiredinfo]

this is just scare mongering, they are trying to get all the farangs in CM to switch to one year visas. be strong, hold your ground or the thai ground which ever the case maybe.

[aalek85th]

Don't let a minor detail, like a train falling of the rails, spoil the party over the predicted touristrevenue of 2 trillion+ next year!

But the dirty beaches, the scams, the killings ?? Mai phen rai ! We are Thai ! The best in the world!

If there's something wrong with 'them'.. it's us. Especially you.

[PhilipCook]

State Railway should be privatized because its unable to operate at a profit, it has a poor quality record and it needs a total upgrade of tracks, trains, and traffic system because there is a significant demand in Thailand for rail logistics(to reduce dependence on overpcied trucking costs).

[pete66]

That was always going to happen. Me and my kids have done BKK-CM several times on the train, and not once has it arrived less than 5 hrs late. And on two occassions it got nowhere near Chiang Mai. It got derailed one time and we had to wait an hour for a bus to drive us three hours to Chiang Mai up the hills.

You can see how ridiculous the "high speed rail link" plans are, when they can't even run this system. Invest for sure, but just make a train that works. We don't need high speed. We have planes for that, 30 minutes to CM, and hardly cost any more than the train.

[Katipo]

Stop being so negative and look on the bright side. If it had been the proposed 'high speed' train, they'd probably all be dead.

[webfact]

North-bound train derails, 30 injured

BANGKOK: -- At least 30 passengers were injured, one seriously, when a Bangkok to Chiang Mai overnight express train derailed in Den Chai district of Phrae province on Wednesday morning.

State Railway of Thailand (SRT) governor Prapas Chongsanguan said the derailment occurred about 3am between Pak Pan and Kaeng Luang railway stations, between kilometre markers 340-341 of the track.

Initial reports to the SRT said that seven out of ten train coaches derailed. At least 30 passengers were injured, one of them seriously. All were admitted to Den Chai Hospital.

The Associated Press reported that the 30 injured passengers were mostly foreign tourists. It is the second derailment on the same route in a month.

Mr Prapas said the cause of the accident was being investigated.

He said he believed it might have been due to the deteriorated condition of a bend in the tracks, where trains are usually required to lower their speed.

As a result of the derailment, both Chiang Mai- and Bangkok-bound trains are terminating services at Sila-at railway station in Uttaradit province, where passengers are being transferred to their destinations by bus.

Another Bangkok-bound train from Chiang Mai derailed early this month but no one was injured.


-- Phuket News 2013-07-17

[aalek85th]

State Railway should be privatized because its unable to operate at a profit, it has a poor quality record and it needs a total upgrade of tracks, trains, and traffic system because there is a significant demand in Thailand for rail logistics(to reduce dependence on overpcied trucking costs).

And the state can't upgrade tracks, trains and traffic systems ?

[requiredinfo]

it was the special express train diesel rail car sprinter - no locomotive. left at 17:00 PM - no sleeping-. only farangs would be silly enough to take that.

Edited July 17, 2013 by requiredinfo

[asdecas]

Not at all surprising, unfortunately. The rail system is in shocking condition and desperately needs upgrading, never mind the high speed project.

If the high-speed project is built while I am still able to climb aboard (doubtful), I still wouldn't go near it. If this is what can happen on the 80kph existing train, imagine what the SRT will be able to do with the 300kph train.

[wdr]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interest in rail transport in Thailand can be traced to when King Rama IV was given a gift of a model railway from Queen Victoria.

[Thai at Heart]

Looks like it just fell off the tracks very gently? Track subsided again?

[pete66]

Yes, there is a reason its mostly foreigners take the train, they have no idea how dangerous it is.

Thais just pay the extra 500B to get on a plane, save 15 hrs journey time, and reduce the chance of an accident by about 100.