Overland travel can be deadly

[craigt3365]

BANGKOK, 29 July 2013: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul says the country must tighten safety and security for foreigners who explore the country by train or bus.

The minister said the government will make safety of foreign visitors a top priority following last week’s bus disaster that killed 19 people and injured another 21 when the Bangkok-bound bus they were travelling in was hit head-on by an 18-wheel truck. It burst into flames incinerating the victims who were trapped inside.

Police blamed the truck driver of falling asleep at the wheel, although experts point out that most of the double-deck buses used even by government transport companies do not comply with safety laws. Most of them have been modified illegally.

Continued:

http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2013/07/overland-travel-can-be-deadly/

[angsta]

Police blamed the truck driver of falling asleep at the wheel, although experts point out that most of the double-deck buses used even by government transport companies do not comply with safety laws. Most of them have been modified illegally.

Jesus wept.

[Robby nz]

We are told on another topic that there are somewhere between 9,000 and 26,000 , depending on who you believe, deaths on Thai roads each year

Using the lower number that comes out at close to 25 per day.

What percentage of those deaths would be in buses?

I would suggest a very low percentage.

If someone wanted to break it down I would expect motorcy to be at the top of the list with private cars and utes next.

Meaning that you would be far more likely to die in a private car than in a bus.

I travel in buses all the time, 4 different ones today, and I look around carefully and never see the emotive things that some poster come up with.

Such as, bald and shredded tyres, missing wheel nuts, buses on a lean, drivers with no licenses (how they work that one out I don't know).

In the almost 8 years I have been traveling on Thai buses I have only ever seen 2 instances of what I would call bad driving.

In contrast I see some real loony behavior from private motorists and when you are sitting up high in a bus you see these things so much better than when you are in a car.

Of course all the posters who 'would never ride in a bus' are such wonderful drivers that they have never and will never do anything wrong.

[plopmeister]

The catalyst for this discussion was an accident between two vehicles. However the solution seems to be focused on only one type of vehicle.......

[lovetotravel]

It's widely reported that the statistics out of Thailand are not to be trusted. The UN has the most reliable statistics. And they are on the higher side.

But yes, motorcycles account for the most number of deaths.

[LuckyLew]

"Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul says the country must tighten safety and security for foreigners who explore the country by train or bus."

why must it be improved for foreigners? can it still be

crappy and dangerous is the vehicule / bus / train is full of Thai people?

[simple1]

In an editorial in today's BKK Post it highlights that Thailand now reportedly has the worlds worst record for road deaths per 100k of population. The WHO report is at

http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_safety_status/2013/en/index.html

[Robby nz]

In an editorial in today's BKK Post it highlights that Thailand now reportedly has the worlds worst record for road deaths per 100k of population.

It says of "Major Countries" whatever that means

It also puts the road deaths at 26,312 as opposed to the govt number of about 9,000.

And they say less than 1% of those deaths can be attributed to buses and heavy vehicles.

0% would be much better, however I still feel safe in a bus.

[simple1]

In an editorial in today's BKK Post it highlights that Thailand now reportedly has the worlds worst record for road deaths per 100k of population.

It says of "Major Countries" whatever that means

It also puts the road deaths at 26,312 as opposed to the govt number of about 9,000.

And they say less than 1% of those deaths can be attributed to buses and heavy vehicles.

0% would be much better, however I still feel safe in a bus.

There were lengthy arguments on TV using the Thai government statistics that showed a gradual decline in road deaths to about 9k p.a.. 03/2013 a senior Thai government official admitted the reporting was incorrect & was actually around 26k deaths a year.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Road-death-toll-in-Thailand-among-highest-in-the-w-30202066.html

[craigt3365]

In an editorial in today's BKK Post it highlights that Thailand now reportedly has the worlds worst record for road deaths per 100k of population.

It says of "Major Countries" whatever that means

It also puts the road deaths at 26,312 as opposed to the govt number of about 9,000.

And they say less than 1% of those deaths can be attributed to buses and heavy vehicles.

0% would be much better, however I still feel safe in a bus.

I read somewhere these stats are impacted by how the Thai government reports road deaths. If a person dies at a hospital sometime after the accident (not sure of the number of days), it's not recorded as a highway fatality.

With regards to buses, I would think Thailand would have high accident numbers because of the number here. There are thousands of buses carrying hundreds of thousands of people every day.

[Tomtomtom69]

We are told on another topic that there are somewhere between 9,000 and 26,000 , depending on who you believe, deaths on Thai roads each year

Using the lower number that comes out at close to 25 per day.

What percentage of those deaths would be in buses?

I would suggest a very low percentage.

If someone wanted to break it down I would expect motorcy to be at the top of the list with private cars and utes next.

Meaning that you would be far more likely to die in a private car than in a bus.

I travel in buses all the time, 4 different ones today, and I look around carefully and never see the emotive things that some poster come up with.

Such as, bald and shredded tyres, missing wheel nuts, buses on a lean, drivers with no licenses (how they work that one out I don't know).

In the almost 8 years I have been traveling on Thai buses I have only ever seen 2 instances of what I would call bad driving.

In contrast I see some real loony behavior from private motorists and when you are sitting up high in a bus you see these things so much better than when you are in a car.

Of course all the posters who 'would never ride in a bus' are such wonderful drivers that they have never and will never do anything wrong.

Well buses are for those people who ride buses. I hate public transport, it's just not my thing - I always drive - if I am visiting somewhere I rent a car and self-drive (except in Myanmar or other countries where self-drive is not yet offered, in which case I rent a car with driver). After clocking up perhaps half a million km in Thailand alone, having driven to Malaysia, driven a left hand drive Lao car to Thailand many times and over to Vietnam, driven in China, Cambodia etc. (and I'm talking cars here) although I even occasionally drive motorcycles, I think I know what I am doing. Being in control by driving your own car and knowing the way the locals drive you can still drive safely without ever being involved in an accident. And I do...I have never been in involved in an accident driving in SE Asia and I don't expect that to change.

[Asiantravel]

We are told on another topic that there are somewhere between 9,000 and 26,000 , depending on who you believe, deaths on Thai roads each year

Using the lower number that comes out at close to 25 per day.

What percentage of those deaths would be in buses?

I would suggest a very low percentage.

If someone wanted to break it down I would expect motorcy to be at the top of the list with private cars and utes next.

Meaning that you would be far more likely to die in a private car than in a bus.

I travel in buses all the time, 4 different ones today, and I look around carefully and never see the emotive things that some poster come up with.

Such as, bald and shredded tyres, missing wheel nuts, buses on a lean, drivers with no licenses (how they work that one out I don't know).

In the almost 8 years I have been traveling on Thai buses I have only ever seen 2 instances of what I would call bad driving.

In contrast I see some real loony behavior from private motorists and when you are sitting up high in a bus you see these things so much better than when you are in a car.

Of course all the posters who 'would never ride in a bus' are such wonderful drivers that they have never and will never do anything wrong.

Well buses are for those people who ride buses. I hate public transport, it's just not my thing - I always drive - if I am visiting somewhere I rent a car and self-drive (except in Myanmar or other countries where self-drive is not yet offered, in which case I rent a car with driver). After clocking up perhaps half a million km in Thailand alone, having driven to Malaysia, driven a left hand drive Lao car to Thailand many times and over to Vietnam, driven in China, Cambodia etc. (and I'm talking cars here) although I even occasionally drive motorcycles, I think I know what I am doing. Being in control by driving your own car and knowing the way the locals drive you can still drive safely without ever being involved in an accident. And I do...I have never been in involved in an accident driving in SE Asia and I don't expect that to change.

I don't know how you can possibly avoid the consequences of someone running a red light or for example a truck behind you, failing to stop when you are waiting at the lights?

[stevenl]

The catalyst for this discussion was an accident between two vehicles. However the solution seems to be focused on only one type of vehicle.......

Especially since it seems that that vehicle was not to blame for the accident.

[yooyoo]

Thai motorists drive like a bunch of lunatics...

[cornishcarlos]

We are told on another topic that there are somewhere between 9,000 and 26,000 , depending on who you believe, deaths on Thai roads each year

Using the lower number that comes out at close to 25 per day.

What percentage of those deaths would be in buses?

I would suggest a very low percentage.

If someone wanted to break it down I would expect motorcy to be at the top of the list with private cars and utes next.

Meaning that you would be far more likely to die in a private car than in a bus.

I travel in buses all the time, 4 different ones today, and I look around carefully and never see the emotive things that some poster come up with.

Such as, bald and shredded tyres, missing wheel nuts, buses on a lean, drivers with no licenses (how they work that one out I don't know).

In the almost 8 years I have been traveling on Thai buses I have only ever seen 2 instances of what I would call bad driving.

In contrast I see some real loony behavior from private motorists and when you are sitting up high in a bus you see these things so much better than when you are in a car.

Of course all the posters who 'would never ride in a bus' are such wonderful drivers that they have never and will never do anything wrong.

Well buses are for those people who ride buses. I hate public transport, it's just not my thing - I always drive - if I am visiting somewhere I rent a car and self-drive (except in Myanmar or other countries where self-drive is not yet offered, in which case I rent a car with driver). After clocking up perhaps half a million km in Thailand alone, having driven to Malaysia, driven a left hand drive Lao car to Thailand many times and over to Vietnam, driven in China, Cambodia etc. (and I'm talking cars here) although I even occasionally drive motorcycles, I think I know what I am doing. Being in control by driving your own car and knowing the way the locals drive you can still drive safely without ever being involved in an accident. And I do...I have never been in involved in an accident driving in SE Asia and I don't expect that to change.

I think you are rather naive if you think that you will never have an accident, just because you consider yourself to be a good driver.

I too have never been involved in a RTA in Asia, but unlike you I know this is more through luck than amazing driving skills.

It only takes one of the idiots on the road to coincide his/her muppetry with your passing and......

Hope you avoid the muppets as long as possible !!

[NanLaew]

A train (with some tourists) falls off the tracks. A few days later, a bus (with no reported tourists) fireballs after a head-on.

Queue government mouthpieces asking for improved safety for tourists traveling inside LOS.

As pointed out by others, Thailand's obscenely high (regardless of who's stats you read) traffic accident mortality rate is for the greater part motorcycles, for the greater part driven by Thai's and the greater part of those are in the provinces. I will admit that watching some of the clueless farang, first-time bike renters in Pattaya, that the odds of having a happy holiday are heavily stacked against them but there are very few tourists on 2-wheels outside the 4 major tourist areas.

They also erroneously report these double-decker buses as tour buses. They are not. Tour buses are the ones you see double parked on Pattaya Beach Road in the daytime and f*cking up 2nd road traffic in the evening. They also pick-up and drop off at Suvanrnabhumi airport. They have foreign tourists inside. The double-deckers that fly between Bangkok, Loei, Surat or Chiang Mai are long-distance buses with the greater majority of passengers being Thai. Tourists are generally flown between provincial hubs, not bussed. Admittedly, until about 5 years ago, any long-distance bus belonging to a transport company with a government-issued charter was a pretty standard, single-decker. The transport companies saw they could pack up to 50% more passengers in a 'tourist' double-decker, so seeing greater profits, they buy them and operate them on the provincial routes.

There are probably some regulations on the dimensions and capacity of inter-provincial buses buried in the legalese of the contracts. There are probably a fair few guys in the Transport Ministry that are tasked with inspection and approval of buses being used by these transport companies under license. However, I would reckon these chaps have the same work ethic as the Bangkok night club fire inspectors and probably enjoy the same "benefits".