Traveled with Nakhon Chai Air last week (great service ..) .. BKK to Surin .. wore seat beat all the way ..these days madness not to ... just hard braking could throw you out of your seat not to mention anything more serious .. and not just in Thai ...

Best coach I ever traveled on was in Estonia (daily scheduled service ..) - TV screen built into the back on every seat, wi-fi (never dropped out ..), plug-in for your device, toilet and free coffee .. and of course seat belts .. and if you are over 60 you get a discount ...

Still shocked over the Laos plane crash and the earthquake in Bohol/Cebu in the Philippines ... both places there earlier in the year ..

Travelled by coach in Turkey recently and many of the coaches there had the TV screens, wifi and seatbelts. Yep, this is the 21st century ... although it feels like 1975 in Thailand.

You won't get any of those extras on intercity buses in New Zealand. They don't even have toilets. Intercity buses in Thailand are far superior to those in NZ.

Did you check the link on page 1 to the UK news story ?

The assertion was many buses are manufactured in back street garages, shiny they may be, safe is debatable....

Thai buses certainly look impressive, but that is Thailand all over; all smoke and mirrors and one big illusion. The reality as we know is far different.

The buses are often made with wooden frames and are built with no engineering input or safety testing whatsoever.

It was an uninformed comment, and watching the video is certainly recommended.

I just travelled on airport coach to Jomtien. It did not have seatbelts. So this is just typical of the Land of bullshit and lies"

out of 10 buses, 8 have no seat belts at all. You are absolutely right in your observation. More than that, if you find seatbelts, then they are only the flight-type : they wrap around your waist only. There is nothing to protect your chest from crashing into the seat in front of you, your head spinning forward at the same speed the bus impacts. Rescuers will probably find your waist still attached to the spine and seat belt, however your head has ripped off a meter away from you sitting lonely inside someone else's lap

Our children are forbidden, by my wife. and yes she is Thai, to go on buses, coaches, minibuses, particularly school ones! I wonder why?!

Same here! That means some Thais feel the danger! For example your wife, my wife My wife also hates the taxis, she doesn't trust them at all. She says they are too dangerous!