20 dead in Thai bus accident: police

[kentfx]

Please, please, please not again !

How are you supposed to travel in this country?? Bus?To dangerous! Minivan?Deadtraps with speeding drivers! Train? Derailments a daily occurrance! Fly? And slide of the runway! Drive private car? With the road full of drunk/drugged drivers!

Only way to survive, seems to be, stay home!

Hope those who died in this tragedy didn't suffer.

Flying seems to be the safest way to travel here. Planes sliding off the runway are fairly rare and I believe that almost never fatalities in those incidents -- as opposed to bus and esp. minivan calamities. And of course car wrecks. I ride a motorcycle everywhere, very carefully. At least I feel in control -- I keep my eyes wide open and generally anticipate the roadway craziness. Still, life back in Brussels was surely less anxiety-ridden. In years there, driving all over the place, I don't believe I ever saw a wreck.

Edited October 24, 2013 by kentfx

[thedoctor]

We live near Kaset Waisi its a long way from ChiangMai,

but while in town today we saw a tow truck pulling a bus that had rolled over

the roof was all caved in windows smashed front end smashed all kinds of things hanging out the windows

looked terrible,, the truck took it to the local police station condo parking area,, dont know why,,

but i looks like another accident we have'nt heard of yet

hope this bus was empty when it got hit ,,

[transam]

We live near Kaset Waisi its a long way from ChiangMai,

but while in town today we saw a tow truck pulling a bus that had rolled over

the roof was all caved in windows smashed front end smashed all kinds of things hanging out the windows

looked terrible,, the truck took it to the local police station condo parking area,, dont know why,,

but i looks like another accident we have'nt heard of yet

hope this bus was empty when it got hit ,,

Similar near Si Mung Mai day before yesterday. How these rides get insurance is beyond me.

[HeijoshinCool]

Have you ever tried riding a motorbike on a dark unlit road, even with headlights?

Many times over the past 42 years.

Always slowly.

But never on a cell.

And never holding dinner, building materials, bags of rubber, or infants.

I'm still here.

Did those dark unlit roads have potholes?

Yep. The ones on the way to my GF's house, even get filled. Every week!

Hey, I'm not saying some of the roads aren't bad here, but ever been to Mexico? Thai roads, seen internationally, aren't all too bad. I've seen roads in certain areas of the States, that are worse.

Walking back after dinner tonight, I counted 5 motorbikes w/o lights, going down the main road, busy with traffic and pedestrians. And they were doing 120-130 kph, as they passed the 7-11, riding the centerline.

Teens.

Nope, don't think it's the roads, for the most part.

[HeijoshinCool]

We live near Kaset Waisi its a long way from ChiangMai,

but while in town today we saw a tow truck pulling a bus that had rolled over

the roof was all caved in windows smashed front end smashed all kinds of things hanging out the windows

looked terrible,, the truck took it to the local police station condo parking area,, dont know why,,

but i looks like another accident we have'nt heard of yet

hope this bus was empty when it got hit ,,

Similar near Si Mung Mai day before yesterday. How these rides get insurance is beyond me.

Geez, guys.

I have to take a bus to BKK on Saturday.

[transam]

We live near Kaset Waisi its a long way from ChiangMai,

but while in town today we saw a tow truck pulling a bus that had rolled over

the roof was all caved in windows smashed front end smashed all kinds of things hanging out the windows

looked terrible,, the truck took it to the local police station condo parking area,, dont know why,,

but i looks like another accident we have'nt heard of yet

hope this bus was empty when it got hit ,,

Similar near Si Mung Mai day before yesterday. How these rides get insurance is beyond me.

Geez, guys.

I have to take a bus to BKK on Saturday.

PM me for my bank details as l know you will want to leave me something... ....................

[NoshowJones]

Have you ever tried riding a motorbike on a dark unlit road, even with headlights?

Many times over the past 42 years.

Always slowly.

But never on a cell.

And never holding dinner, building materials, bags of rubber, or infants.

I'm still here.

Did those dark unlit roads have potholes?

Yep. The ones on the way to my GF's house, even get filled. Every week!

Hey, I'm not saying some of the roads aren't bad here, but ever been to Mexico? Thai roads, seen internationally, aren't all too bad. I've seen roads in certain areas of the States, that are worse.

Walking back after dinner tonight, I counted 5 motorbikes w/o lights, going down the main road, busy with traffic and pedestrians. And they were doing 120-130 kph, as they passed the 7-11, riding the centerline.

Teens.

Nope, don't think it's the roads, for the most part.

Yes, I have been and driven in Mexico, Where I live here, they resurface the road, leave a few metres with potholes then start again. I could even take you there and show you. TiT.

[allan michaud]

Dominican Republic (41.7 per 100,000 people) is the top dog in terms of road deaths and to quote an article in the Washington Post on the WHO report. "The next 10 most dangerous countries for driving, in descending order, are: Thailand, Venezuela, Iran, Nigeria, South Africa, Iraq, Guinea-Bissau, Oman and Chad."

Woo hoo, go Thailand! I am sure if they keep things up they can be number one very soon.

[HeijoshinCool]

We live near Kaset Waisi its a long way from ChiangMai,

but while in town today we saw a tow truck pulling a bus that had rolled over

the roof was all caved in windows smashed front end smashed all kinds of things hanging out the windows

looked terrible,, the truck took it to the local police station condo parking area,, dont know why,,

but i looks like another accident we have'nt heard of yet

hope this bus was empty when it got hit ,,

Similar near Si Mung Mai day before yesterday. How these rides get insurance is beyond me.

Geez, guys.

I have to take a bus to BKK on Saturday.

PM me for my bank details as l know you will want to leave me something... ....................

Give me a ride, I'll double the bus fare ...

[zydeco]

"I can't confirm the cause---he said--but the road was curvy"---------------<deleted>.. the road was the most probable cause, OR was it not driving according to conditions.

Sometimes, it seems like you're living in a real life version of Idiocracy. Planes crash. Trains derail. Buses topple. Cars smash. Minivans fold like accordions. And people barely notice or just shrug it off!

[Briandajew]

Whilst it is sad at the loss of life, I doubt there will be much made about this or any other accident here - The heads will be in the sand as usual.

I bet this will be yesterdays news before the day is out and will barely make Thai TV!

On the other hand, anyone watching the Thai news this last week will no doubt have seen the almost non stop coverage of the dreadful plane crash in Laos, that involved 5 Thais.

Virtually every terrestrial channel has been covering this story since it broke, constantly going on and on about the Laos Airline involved.

Put it into perspective!

5 Thais die in a plane crash run by a foreign company and the news is never ending - in comparison...

20 Thais dead today in a bus crash, very little coverage, 16 dead a couple of weeks back in a Thai pick up truck accident - very little coverage, 19 dead in a Thai bus crash earlier in central Thailand - burnt to death, very little coverage, 5 dead in another bus crash in April, again very little news coverage!

The News Is Always Greener on the other side!

Maybe get your own house in order before you harp on about others!

Edited October 24, 2013 by Briandajew

[Baloo22]

Dominican Republic (41.7 per 100,000 people) is the top dog in terms of road deaths and to quote an article in the Washington Post on the WHO report. "The next 10 most dangerous countries for driving, in descending order, are: Thailand, Venezuela, Iran, Nigeria, South Africa, Iraq, Guinea-Bissau, Oman and Chad."

Woo hoo, go Thailand! I am sure if they keep things up they can be number one very soon.

I liked the part that said "In the United Arab Emirates city of Abu Dhabi, a three-day Blackberry phone outage coincided with a 40 percent drop in traffic accidents. " One positive aspect of cell-phone outages!

"A map of the countries with the most dangerous roads"

Max Fisher, Washington Post, June 7,2013

One commenter wrote out a bunch of "Rules for driving in the DR". They are quite good. Seems they would fit here too!

1.Turn signals only give away your next move. Never use them.

2. Under no circumstances leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you. (Somebody else will fill in the space, putting you in an even more dangerous situation.)

3. The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of getting hit.

4. Never, ever come to a complete stop at a stop sign. (No one expects it and you will be rear-ended.)

5. Remember driving is like playing chicken, intimidate others by driving as big of a car as you can find. If you can't afford a giant car, get a really beat up one. You can scare others with it too because everyone knows you don't care that it will show any additional body damage when you collide. (But remember, these rules don't apply with buses and semi-trucks.)

6. Braking is only to be done as hard and late as possible.

7. Never wait for an opening when you want to pass a car. You can always run the cars in your lane off the road to get back in before crashing head-on into oncoming traffic. The cars in the oncoming lane are expendable also.

There's more at the link above.

[connda]

SOS - DD
Same old sh*t - Different day!

RIP

[Baloo22]

Yup! Suicide Vans!!

"One dead, 10 injured in Phuket visa run van crash", The Phuket News

"PHUKET: A Filipino woman died and 10 others received minor injuries when a visa run minivan crashed in Trang on Monday (October 21)."

"“The crash point was in front of Khao Keaw temple, and I believe the driver lost control of the van in heavy rain and then crashed into a tree,” Capt Opat said."

[Waffle]

I couldn't find this story on the news page when I went looking for it, Actually I couldn't find it anywhere except my inbox.

Am I missing something?, it seems to have been taking down, I must be looking in the wrong news section...

There was a story though about a cat smoking weed but 23 dead in a bus crash?

Thanks.

[beautifulthailand99]

Fatalities in UK in 2012 were 2.9 / 100,000 of population. Mind you coaches have tachographs to limit divers hours and they don't have minibuses weaving in and out over 4 lanes. Food for thought ?

More needlessly wasted lives - RIP.

If Thailand was developed in the way we understand in the west (or even Singapore for that matter) then it would no longer be 'cheap' and our playground, holiday destination and retirement option. Sadly 'cheap' ends up meaning lots of things in the context of Thailand and especially so as in 'life is cheap'. Couple that with a Buddhist fatalism that 'this is the way it is' and add all the superstitious junk commercial drivers have in the vehicles 'to protect' then you have a recipe for disaster on the roads. In all the years I've been coming here I must have had at least 5 seriously mad drives where I couldn't wait to get out as my danger signals were all flashing red.

That said I definately feel more alive in Thailand as opposed to a 'perfected' health and safety model back in the UK.

http://youtu.be/qSPzxC5KcxY

A video offering some advice to stay safe.

Edited October 24, 2013 by beautifulthailand99

[MaxYakov]

We live near Kaset Waisi its a long way from ChiangMai,

but while in town today we saw a tow truck pulling a bus that had rolled over

the roof was all caved in windows smashed front end smashed all kinds of things hanging out the windows

looked terrible,, the truck took it to the local police station condo parking area,, dont know why,,

but i looks like another accident we have'nt heard of yet

hope this bus was empty when it got hit ,,

Similar near Si Mung Mai day before yesterday. How these rides get insurance is beyond me.

Geez, guys.

I have to take a bus to BKK on Saturday.

Take Nakhonchai Air if you must go by bus.

[timewilltell]

Driving too fast, brakes crap,don't know how to use gears to slow vehicle down,

so no seat belts on that bus. RIP

regards Worgeordie

Requiring log books that record distance traveled as well as breaks would go a long way also. Of course then there's the enforcement part...

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You could also limit buses to say 70 kmh ? I believe European rules require a rest every 4 hours ?

This is the one annoying thing about Thailand as I have lost a number of friends due to the dangerous roads

Driving from Jomptien to Udon a nightmare, that's not the others on the road, it was POT HOLES 30 cm deap and road cracks to take down any Motor cycle, highway 331-304 and highway 2 from Korat to Udon most vehicles driving in the right hand lane. My car hit a pot hole and with it being full of water had no idea how deap. Most of the 8 hours were watching for holes and trying to swerve around them- disgusting state. Had to have a wheel change as my Mag wheel was bent and tyre wall slashed.

No wonder there are so many accidents/incidents.

The main Surat Thani to Bangkok road is no better especially around Chumporn. I have the idea this is a direct consequence of corruption leaving he budget short.

If you successfully navigate the pot holes in the driving rain you will be lucky to avoid the near invisible slow moving trucks without a single light on the back which simply merge into the night after dark. There are precious few street lights either. The serious thing is that there are Two police checkpoints that are nearly always manned around that same area which these unlit trucks pass through with no problem so I guess the transport company pays the police to allow them to run vehicles that are obviously unfit for the road. I'd hate to see what state their tyres are in!

[socksy01]

There is no such thing as an 'accident' - all incidents relating to so called accidents are down to one of two things - driver error or mechanical failure, whether that be on the part of a vehicle mechanical failure or a structure falling onto a vehicle.

So much so, that the London Metropolitan Police legislators renamed Road Traffic 'Accidents' as Road Traffic Collisions.

Driver training here is absolute s**te so I suspect driver error is responsible for most of these.

[Bagwan]

You could also limit buses to say 70 kmh ? I believe European rules require a rest every 4 hours ?

This is the one annoying thing about Thailand as I have lost a number of friends due to the dangerous roads

Thailand's roads aren't dangerous, its drivers are.

And that is why there are so many crashes as bus drivers roar along at 130 kmh , limit this to 70 and you will see a crash reduction

And keep buses and heavy goods vehicles out of the right hand lane on three lane, one directional highways.

[oldsailor35]

There ya go! It was nothing to do with the driver, t'was the curvy road.

[oldsailor35]

Sadly Thai people do not have a high or any regard for safety and these types of accidents will continue to happen on a regular basis, I am sure just because it is a curvy road 20 people had to die more to do with badly maintained vehicles being driven by badly trained drivers RIP to all those who died

How about changing that to "UNTRAINED DRIVERS"

[oldsailor35]

You could also limit buses to say 70 kmh ? I believe European rules require a rest every 4 hours ?

This is the one annoying thing about Thailand as I have lost a number of friends due to the dangerous roads

Thailand's roads aren't dangerous, its drivers are.

A lot of Thailands roads are dangerous. what about all those potholes? How is a motor cyclist going to see them on those dark unlit roads?

Headlights?

Oh, yeah. Never mind.

Headlights ! am not sure if they are required on Samui..............pretty certain tail lights not needed tho !

[Boater]

You could also limit buses to say 70 kmh ? I believe European rules require a rest every 4 hours ?

This is the one annoying thing about Thailand as I have lost a number of friends due to the dangerous roads

Thailand's roads aren't dangerous, its drivers are.

A lot of Thailands roads are dangerous. what about all those potholes? How is a motor cyclist going to see them on those dark unlit roads?

Headlights?

Oh, yeah. Never mind.

Headlights ! am not sure if they are required on Samui..............pretty certain tail lights not needed tho !

Samui is a law into itself when it comes to driving , constant drink drivers , underage driving mixed with people with no clue and lots of in road worthy cars

[beautifulthailand99]

This seems relevant here - a brilliant little documentary about the volunteers who clean up after the accidents.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2013/oct/31/bodysnatchers-bangkok-thailand-emergency-video