Insurance firm to pay Lampang crash victims

[webfact]

Insurance firm to pay Lampang crash victims
PRATEEP NANTHAPARP,
WATCHARAPONG JINGKHAOJAI
THE NATION



Compensation covers Bt200,000 per deceased passenger, Bt50,000 per injured

BANGKOK: -- A total of Bt5 million will be paid as compensation by the insurance company to victims of a double-decker bus accident on Wednesday night in Lampang's Wang Nua district, in which 21 people were killed and 17 others injured.

Somboon Charoensuk, an official of Sahamongkol Insurance Co's Phayao branch, inspected the accident site yesterday and met Wang Nua police investigators to seek details of the accident, including information about the deceased and the wounded. He revealed that the bus company, Weerapan Tour and Travel Limited Partnership, had insured its passengers with his company, and hence it would pay Bt200,000 per deceased victim and cover Bt50,000 medical bills of each of the injured victims.

The victims' relatives can bring death certificates and other documents to claim the insurance money at Sahamongkol Insurance Co's Chiang Mai branch, he said, adding that they should get the money within a week.

Meanwhile, Chiang Mai Governor Wichien Phuthiwinyu, after meeting officials at a coordination centre for accident victims in Saraphi district's Chom Phu subdistrict, said the insurance firm should provide between Bt100,000 and Bt300,000 for each of the deceased plus Bt50,000 in funeral assistance funds.

Chiang Mai Transport Office chief Chanchai Kilapaeng said the bus had undergone a maintenance check on September 30, which found that its systems, including brakes, were working normally. As of press time, police were inspecting the abyss near the entrance of the Than Thong waterfall that the bus plunged into after the driver lost control. The ill-fated bus was part of a convoy of three buses transporting pilgrims. Police investigators believe malfunctioning brakes could have been responsible for the accident.

Buachan Saimanee, who arrived at the scene to collect the bodies of her sister Pathum Chiangda, 55, and niece Wiranpat, 30, said she was also travelling with them but was on a different bus. She said the buses had left Chiang Mai early on Wednesday morning to join a robe-offering ceremony at Wat Mai Samakkhee in Wang Nua before visiting another temple and Phayao Lake before heading back to Chiang Mai.

She said the ill-fated bus had encountered brake problems and had pulled over, so the other two buses in the convoy overtook it. It was only later that they heard the bus had had an accident.

Separately, another accident in Roi Et's Kaset Wisai district yesterday saw two deaths and 35 injuries. The accident took place at 4am on Payak Phumpisai-Kaset Wisai Road in Nam Om subdistrict, when the bus overturned before crashing into a ditch. Police believe the driver, who fled the scene, might have dozed off. The bus had 41 passengers and was heading for Ubon Ratchathani.


-- The Nation 2013-10-25

[Thai at Heart]

She said the ill-fated bus had encountered brake problems and had pulled over,

I would suggest that the families go and get lawyers asap and don't sign anything or take one baht off these people.

200k baht. Pffffft

[RickBradford]

She said the ill-fated bus had encountered brake problems and had pulled over,

Interesting.

In the Roi Et crash mentioned lower down, the driver said (according to the Thai press) that the steering wheel locked up suddenly causing him to go off the road into a flooded rice paddy.

[LuckyLew]

Unreal ... pulled over for faulty brakes

Did the driver think that if he stopped for 10 minutes the brakes would magically start working properly again?

What a tragic waste of life

[slapout]

I wonder if the bus itself was as under insured as that provided for the public who had put their lives in the hands of the same driver.

To even allow a commercial vehicle on the road with inadequte insurace is a gross miscarriage, by the company that owns the vehicle, and the tour business that aranges their services.

Guess the Transport ministry does not have access for a history of bus accidents, deaths/injury, insurance coverage, etc. You can give the people the oppurnity to learn, a host of books for their use, but when all they do is eat the covers off the books, don't expect any improvement.

[worgeordie]

I thought buses were supposed to have seat belts fitted now? if this bus would have have them

it could have saved lives.

The driver was most likely driving too fast to catch up to the other buses,knowing that the brakes

were not 100%,on hilly, bending roads most likely in 3rd or 4th gear,and when he had to brake

it was too late.was the driver killed or did he do a runner.

regards Worgeordie

[jaltsc]

I'm surprised they don't sue the company that made the faulty amulet they were wearing around their necks. For a culture that worships cause and effect on a spiritual basis, there doesn't seem to be an understanding of that concept in every day life. How difficult is it to understand, that if you are driving (or riding in) a faulty vehicle, there is a good chance there will be a malfunction resulting in a dangerous and possible fatal outcome?

However, if the value of a life is perceived to be worth only Bt200,000, then safety doesn't need to be much of a priority. I am sure the term "maintenance check" is open to interpretation and can mean anything from a full inspection using the best modern equipment, to "Looks OK to me. Pass me another Leo".

[Emdog]

Perhaps the insurance firms should organize and require some stringent standards before underwriting these "crash by night" bus companies. Lord knows the government won't do it. Seems if your insurance company is going to have to shell out some money, they would have a keen interest in lowering risk.

[MMarlow]

The driver was most likely driving too fast to catch up to the other buses,knowing that the brakes

were not 100%,on hilly, bending roads most likely in 3rd or 4th gear,and when he had to brake

it was too late.was the driver killed or did he do a runner.

regards Worgeordie

Plenty of "most likely's" in there, eh? Most likely pure speculation. Most Likely.

[harrry]

Interesting to see from the photo the degree of protection to passengers on the top with the thin shell and wooden framing on these busses.

[connda]

So they can get away with carrying inadequate insurance to compensate a death, and the Thai government gives a big 'wai' (wink and nod) to the insurance companies.

I got nothing else to say...I'm just shaking my head.

[yooper2001]

My advise is to hire lawyers from another country because there is not a competent lawyer in Thailand. I judge this by how many ladies that I know that get no child support from their ex husbands. Maybe I am wrong and it is the judicial system that discriminates against victims, or both