Thailand's bus operators risk passenger safety for profits: expert

[webfact]

Bus operators risk passenger safety for profits: expert
KASEM CHANATHINART
THE NATION



Most 8-wheel double-deckers are a lot higher than allowed, academic warns

BANGKOK: -- Operators of private transport businesses in Thailand focus mostly on profits rather than passenger safety, while the assemblers of specially modified buses, particularly the widely used double-deckers, tend to use substandard materials and shun safety features to keep costs down, an expert on road safety and transport engineering said.

In the case of double-decker buses, the windows on the top deck have reinforced glass, which is difficult to break, making it tough for passengers to escape in case of an emergency, Assistant Professor Somprasong Sattayamallee said.

Plus, the additional weight of the reinforced glass on the top deck results in the bus not being properly balanced, he added.

As per Department of Land Transport requirements, modified double-decker buses with eight wheels, two of which are added on, should not exceed 4 metres in height, while buses with the standard six wheels should not exceed 3.6 metres in height.

Somprasong, quoting a bus assembler who did not want to be named, said most modified eight-wheel double-decker buses in Thailand were higher than 4.5 metres. Also, these buses seat between 50 and 55 passengers, when the standard is no more than 40, he said.

The assembly technician went on to say that up to 70 of the buses he had modified had a standard chassis with a normal 2.5-metre axle despite the additional height. To comply with safety standards given the extra height, the axle should be wider than 2.5 metres. However, wider chassis are only made overseas, which would make the job of modifying the bus more expensive.

"The tour-bus operators will not hire you if you use an expensive foreign-made chassis," he explained.

The safety of specially modified double-decked buses has raised concerns after several road accidents, especially the most recent one in Saraburi's Kaeng Khoi district in which 19 people were burned to death and 22 others injured.

Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt, meanwhile, is encouraging private operators to install Global Positioning System devices on their buses as this would allow for efficient management of public transport and make it easier to track the vehicle in case of emergencies.

Of the 800 buses operating under the government concessionaire Trans-port Co, 731 have had GPS tracking devices installed. The ministry is aiming to require all new buses to be equipped with the system.


-- The Nation 2013-07-26

[Gsxrnz]

So the moral is, if you build a buss that is unsafe, overload it, don't maintain it properly, and have it driven by untrained drivers.......<deleted> happens.

[Thai at Heart]

Every rule under the sun.

Zero enforcement

[rkidlad]

We all know this. Big question is - where does this blatant disregard for people's safety and must make as much possible money at all costs mentality come from?

[Soi Sauce]

We all know this. Big question is - where does this blatant disregard for people's safety and must make as much possible money at all costs mentality come from?

Just about every Thai in a government position.

[arthurboy]

Operators of private transport businesses in Thailand focus mostly on profits rather than passenger safety, while the assemblers of specially modified buses, particularly the widely used double-deckers, tend to use substandard materials and shun safety features to keep costs down, an expert on road safety and transport engineering said.

Expert wrings his hands after stating the bleedin' obvious...

Authorities hold a meeting, talk a lot, promise reform, nothing happens.

Again.

[EvilDrSomkid]

The lesson is: Don't take the bus.

I would rather drive my German tank or take an airplane. Way more expensive, but I have a better chance of survival.

[jaltsc]

"...tend to use substandard materials and shun safety features to keep costs down..."

This could describe buses, highways, buildings, bridges...Just about anything built in Thailand where a payoff to an official can cut costs and put the general public in danger. If the Thai authorities had any interest in making this country safer, they would have done it already. As long as a large number of foreign tourists aren't affected there will be no incentive to change things.

[noitom]

Everyone knows that Thai buses and vans are death traps, but they keep coming. Thais are just now writing news about this. That's preposterous in and of itself. Several letters were written to the Thai editorial press of the two major English newspapers detailing the unsafe conditions of vans from Mo-Chit to Thammasat University in 2008. Not a thing was ever done. Then there were the accidents with the 16 year old driving and there was some brief skirmishing around. Then, as usual, it was dropped as is the Thai custom. Now, again, the academic speaks out as if no one ever knew or was aware of unsafe buses, vans, and trucks, not to speak of motorcycle havoc and Tuk Tuk mayhem in Thailand. Thailand is a moving death trap.

[Thai at Heart]

So they've licensed a few imported cars and that causes a huge stink, but hundreds of illegal buses is all good.

[NongKhaiKid]

Operators of private transport businesses in Thailand focus mostly on profits rather than passenger safety, while the assemblers of specially modified buses, particularly the widely used double-deckers, tend to use substandard materials and shun safety features to keep costs down, an expert on road safety and transport engineering said.

Expert wrings his hands after stating the bleedin' obvious...

Authorities hold a meeting, talk a lot, promise reform, nothing happens.

Again.

It doesn't say which faculty he is in ?

[worgeordie]

We all know this. Big question is - where does this blatant disregard for people's safety and must make as much possible money at all costs mentality come from?

Its called GREED, a profit at any cost,seems to be the capitalist way of late.

regards Worgeordie

[canman]

We all know this. Big question is - where does this blatant disregard for people's safety and must make as much possible money at all costs mentality come from?

Its called GREED, a profit at any cost,seems to be the capitalist way of late.

regards Worgeordie

Greed and no accountability.

[worgeordie]

If, heaven forbid, the bus operators were forced to have seat belts

PROPERLY fitted,for every passenger. they would be squealing

like pigs,at the cost,life is cheap here so it will never happen.

regards Worgeordie

[robblok]

Same as the fact that they would stop minivans speeding hefty fines and such... has anyone seen that happen ? Words that is all there will be if there is no money in it for the government nothing will be done.

[Thai at Heart]

We all know this. Big question is - where does this blatant disregard for people's safety and must make as much possible money at all costs mentality come from?

Its called GREED, a profit at any cost,seems to be the capitalist way of late.

regards Worgeordie

Greed and no accountability.

Which, having read the article, would suggest that the operators have been hiding behind the incompetence of the legal system forever. For every collision or over turned bus, or every bus that ran off the road, if the lawyers and police involved had done even an ounce of investigative work, they would have discovered that dozens if not hundreds of the buses were in contravention of the law.

So basically, there are hundreds if not thousands of tour buses that are licensed illegally in the country because they don't meet even the basic design criteria. What is ANYONE going to do about this type of corruption? Zilch..

[lemonjelly]

These are the buses that are : too high, too wide, carry too many passengers,.... that get waved through the Ministry of Transport checkpoints...... no wonder Thais place so much belief in the afterlife/rebirth.

[lucien62]

Ah Ah! Thai buses! They are a joke, like Thai police.

Look at buses in Malaysia. You will see a big difference: No super-high double deck shitty buses with poor interior and cramped seats but standard single deck with normal seats.

HEY THAILAND! Look at your more developed neighbors and copy them! (edit: copy with same quality or better...)

Edit2: And hire good drivers! Not childish ones who like to race with other bus drivers.

Edited July 26, 2013 by lucien62

[IMA_FARANG]

We all know this. Big question is - where does this blatant disregard for people's safety and must make as much possible money at all costs mentality come from?

-------------------

It's called Capitalism ... Profit before People.

It's a western idea highly regarded in Thailand by international investors in Thailand.

[harrry]

Flash back 40 years to the time under Kukrit the government started BorKorSor(The Transport Co) to elimininate the unsafe cowboys in unlicenced airconditioned busses by providing a cheaper better safer alternative.

Edited July 26, 2013 by harrry

[orpheus454]

We all know this. Big question is - where does this blatant disregard for people's safety and must make as much possible money at all costs mentality come from?

Union Carbide?

Philip Morris?

Nestle?

James Hardy?

[alant]

We all know this. Big question is - where does this blatant disregard for people's safety and must make as much possible money at all costs mentality come from?

-------------------

It's called Capitalism ... Profit before People.

It's a western idea highly regarded in Thailand by international investors in Thailand.

Is your anti capitalism statement perhaps a reflection of the Largely Redundant Member? But more seriously there are a few that have posted on here and tagged this behaviour as Capitalism which, apart from being unrepresentative of capitalism, detracts from the real issues.Well, that is my opinion anyway.

[theblether]

I was on one of these double deckers yesterday, the step height from the top deck is ridiculous and dangerous. I counted 52 people on the top deck, in an emergency you would be seriously struggling to get out quickly. You could be sure that panic would cause a fall and or stampede.

What's the chances of the police pulling over all these buses and putting them off the road? None.

[GaoYuk]

They should install speed restrictors in every bus and minivan, if the companies tamper with them, hit them with massive fines.

[FireMedic]

Dangerous streets, dangerous drivers, dangerous buses, dangerous boats, dangerous trains and dangerous leadership.... List this under "Thainess Promotion".

[KanomPang]

I put a question to some university students I was teaching the other day about the number of crashes that keep occurring on buses asking them how they felt about it especially night buses travelling down to Bangkok. The replies I got back were pretty much all the same with them saying they are scared sometimes but to minimise the probability of death in the event of a crash they always sat in the middle of the bus. That was it! Fantastic...

[Thai at Heart]

I was on one of these double deckers yesterday, the step height from the top deck is ridiculous and dangerous. I counted 52 people on the top deck, in an emergency you would be seriously struggling to get out quickly. You could be sure that panic would cause a fall and or stampede.

What's the chances of the police pulling over all these buses and putting them off the road? None.

Well, TAT just pleaded with someone to do something about tourist safety. Problem is, they would literally put hundreds of tour companies out of business in a minute. Who the hell allowed this bodge job on the basic design of buses to go on for so long? Literally thousands of people from the builders to the bus owners KNEW the buses weren't meant to be built this way.

[unanimosity]

Every rule under the sun.

Zero enforcement

And zero liability or accountability.

[lucien62]

I put a question to some university students I was teaching the other day about the number of crashes that keep occurring on buses asking them how they felt about it especially night buses travelling down to Bangkok. The replies I got back were pretty much all the same with them saying they are scared sometimes but to minimise the probability of death in the event of a crash they always sat in the middle of the bus. That was it! Fantastic...

Immature, just like the rest of their society.

[unanimosity]

I was on one of these double deckers yesterday, the step height from the top deck is ridiculous and dangerous. I counted 52 people on the top deck, in an emergency you would be seriously struggling to get out quickly. You could be sure that panic would cause a fall and or stampede.

What's the chances of the police pulling over all these buses and putting them off the road? None.

Even if the police pulled them over, a hundred baht would change hands and off you go.