School bus crash injures 13 students in Prachinburi

[webfact]

Prachinburi School Bus Crash Injures 13 Students

By Khaosod Online



BANGKOK: -- 13 schoolchildren were injured after their songthaew school bus skidded off the road and crashed into a tree in Pachinburi province.

The songthaew vehicle was carrying 27 students at the time of the accident, police said. The injured students were sent to Nadee Hospital.

Pol.Lt.Col. Suchart Yaemsak, an investigative police officer from Nadee Police Station, told our correspondent that the momentum following the crash has caused many students to suffer broken bones.

Mr. Anuwat Sahinlom, 38, the songthaew driver, said he picked up the students from Triam Udom Sueksa Nomklao School and Chankrachang Sueksa School in the province prior to the incident.

Once he arrived at the scene, he said, a truck suddenly approached the school bus. Mr Anuwat said that he was forced to swerve onto the roadside, hitting into the tree.

Source: http://www.khaosod.co.th/en/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRNNE16Y3lOakU0Tmc9PQ==

-- KHAOSOD English 2013-11-06

[ginjag]

Overcrowding?? if 20 were inside cramped, how many were on TOP -I just assume 27 could hardly be inside.

This explains what is happening to local transport officials/police who watch these buses with kids on top and do nothing. we all know about it we all see it every day.

I am waiting for a transport official to say-- Now we know were having a crackdown---PEWK

[sjjmmi]

That's a school bus and how to get 27 inside

[crumpled]

Thankfully no fatatlities, but I have seen these school buses well overloaded and they are lucky there are no fatalities.

Forward momentum? There are no seatbelts, many are standing and, yes, the forward momentum will break bones!

[ginjag]

That's a school bus and how to get 27 inside

Same as 4 elephants-2 in front 2 in back.- -----------------LOOK on the roof, that's where you really get forward momentum.

[jdinasia]

I am not too far from there and am glad that there were no fatalities! Those roads and the big trucks on them make i a scary ride on a small motorcycle!

Worth note: The driver did not run away!

[ratcatcher]

That's a school bus and how to get 27 inside

Same as 4 elephants-2 in front 2 in back.- -----------------LOOK on the roof, that's where you really get forward momentum.

Is it really surprising there aren't more casualties here?

[Thaddeus]

Once he arrived at the scene, he said, a truck suddenly approached the school bus. Mr Anuwat said that he was forced to swerve onto the roadside, hitting into the tree.

I have no problem believing that.

[JoeThePoster]

Once he arrived at the scene, he said, a truck suddenly approached the school bus.

Gee, what are the chances of that happening on the road?

[davejones]

The overcrowded songhtaew is daily thing. Or is this surprise for you guys?

There were about 20 adults on the one I was on in Bangkok a couple of weeks ago. So 27 children could easily fit on. 7 children seated either side, 10 standing inside, 3 standing on the back. Easy. No overcrowding would mean 3 buses needed instead of one, so who would pay for the extra buses? Thailand is poorer than Western nations, so standards are bound to be lower. When Western nations were as poor as Thailand, standards were very low indeed. Better safety comes with increasing wealth. There is a lot they could do to improve safety, but many on here expect 1st world safety at developing world prices.

Edited November 6, 2013 by davejones

[LuckyLew]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/679755-seat-belts-to-be-installed-in-public-transportation/

Great to have seat belts ... but how you gone get 27 on the back of a pickup truck

Think it is time for Thai Gov't to get these students proper buses to travel to and from school

Instead of trying to bring some a hole home ... spend some time worrying out the Thai people

Bet you would never see Chalerm or Yingluck send there kids to school on one of those trucks

[ginjag]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/679755-seat-belts-to-be-installed-in-public-transportation/

Great to have seat belts ... but how you gone get 27 on the back of a pickup truck

Think it is time for Thai Gov't to get these students proper buses to travel to and from school

Instead of trying to bring some a hole home ... spend some time worrying out the Thai people

Bet you would never see Chalerm or Yingluck send there kids to school on one of those trucks

The P.M. wouldn't have much idea how her boy went to school, nanny would see to that. plus the fact she has been away so much in the last 2 years she must be near a stranger to him.

Hasn't he got his own school ? as he has the football pitch, he only needs a small school house, a teacher and no need to travel every day.

[DocN]

These are your CHILDREN, <deleted>! Thailand-oh-we-love-our-family-traditions-so-much-my @$$!

[ratcatcher]

The overcrowded songhtaew is daily thing. Or is this surprise for you guys?

There were about 20 adults on the one I was on in Bangkok a couple of weeks ago. So 27 children could easily fit on. 7 children seated either side, 10 standing inside, 3 standing on the back. Easy. No overcrowding would mean 3 buses needed instead of one, so who would pay for the extra buses? Thailand is poorer than Western nations, so standards are bound to be lower. When Western nations were as poor as Thailand, standards were very low indeed. Better safety comes with increasing wealth. There is a lot they could do to improve safety, but many on here expect 1st world safety at developing world prices.

You may have enjoyed your trip on a songtaew, but these school kids deserve better in the land of smiles.

Thailand may be a developing country, but when this government can plan to spend trillions on High Speed Rail and has wasted billions on the rice scam, surely they could help to finance safer transport for schoolchildren.

If you think this is responsible transport I am stunned.

[jaltsc]

"13 schoolchildren were injured after their songthaew school bus skidded off the road and crashed into a tree..."

A songthaew is not a bus even though it might bus its passengers. Basically, a songthaew is a pick up truck, and a pick up truck is constructed to carry non-human cargo in the back/bed. Using such a vehicle for human transportation is a disaster waiting to happen. Especially when the weight is distributed inside, outside and on top of the vehicle, causing it to be out of balance. How many times do you see a pick up truck with entire families in the back? Of course, the infant of the family is kept safe by riding on the mother's lap in the front cab, just waiting for a sudden stop or crash so it can become a flattened dash board ornament. There is a good reason industrial countries have set and enforced safety standards for motor vehicles...and it's not because they have yet to discover the power of amulets.

Edited November 6, 2013 by jaltsc

[cup-O-coffee]

This article, to begin with, is wrong on so many levels. Firstly, that is NOT a school bus! That is a very basic and stripped down version of a personnel carrier. The remainder of this tale I ascribe to lunacy: sheer lunacy... again!

EDIT: Jaltsc. Nice one! I apologize I didn't spot your post before submitting. Credit goes to you.

Edited November 7, 2013 by cup-O-coffee

[meatboy]

do the parents care? d.they f.

[ginjag]

do the parents care? d.they f.

Most start to care when the kid leaves school and starts work---YES then they care ---money every month to come home to Mama, pay back for the money spent for the years at school. NOT ALL but most. Thai thinking, some kids are breaking the never ending circle. But it leaves them out of touch with parents.

Six or eight kids on the top of these converted lorries -commonplace.

[Garry]

Overcrowding?? if 20 were inside cramped, how many were on TOP -I just assume 27 could hardly be inside.

This explains what is happening to local transport officials/police who watch these buses with kids on top and do nothing. we all know about it we all see it every day.

I am waiting for a transport official to say-- Now we know were having a crackdown---PEWK

perhaps it was a deflated tire

[ginjag]

Overcrowding?? if 20 were inside cramped, how many were on TOP -I just assume 27 could hardly be inside.

This explains what is happening to local transport officials/police who watch these buses with kids on top and do nothing. we all know about it we all see it every day.

I am waiting for a transport official to say-- Now we know were having a crackdown---PEWK

perhaps it was a deflated tire

If it deflates you wouldn't hear a BANG, I would say the brakes were applied just before LANDING, running out of runway.

[Garry]

Overcrowding?? if 20 were inside cramped, how many were on TOP -I just assume 27 could hardly be inside.

This explains what is happening to local transport officials/police who watch these buses with kids on top and do nothing. we all know about it we all see it every day.

I am waiting for a transport official to say-- Now we know were having a crackdown---PEWK

perhaps it was a deflated tire

If it deflates you wouldn't hear a BANG, I would say the brakes were applied just before LANDING, running out of runway.

oops meant to use a smiley and yeah my comment was based on the Thai Air Chiang Rai incident, funny a hell. I feel sorry for the school children though. I wonder if the kids can corroborate the driver’s story?

[Local Drunk]

I've seen 25 kindergarten students climbing out of one van... The Transport Minister knows that this is happening and he's done nothing to stop it. We'll just have to wait for the fiery deaths of van load of these toddlers crushed by a sand truck to hear him say, "One Month" and in the end it will go the way of the Santika night club fire.

[kimamey]

That's a school bus and how to get 27 inside

I think there's a middle bench as well so it's possible but we've all seen the ones with people on the top as well.

Is there a Thai word for 'inertia'? I sometimes doubt it.

[Emdog]

Being that overloaded it would be easy (even expected) to lose control. Anything other than a straight line is recipe for disaster.

[jdinasia]

27 could easily fit in the songtheaw shown in the photo. A normal minivan seats 11 and is much smaller.

[ginjag]

27 could easily fit in the songtheaw shown in the photo. A normal minivan seats 11 and is much smaller.

You mean sardines ?? easily is -yes in this country.

[Crossy]

27 could easily fit in the songtheaw shown in the photo. A normal minivan seats 11 and is much smaller.

Indeed, I see an almost identical vehicle each morning with 30 or so construction workers plus their gear, sardines certainly, but the vehicle is not overweight (2.5 tons in the back).

[ginjag]

27 could easily fit in the songtheaw shown in the photo. A normal minivan seats 11 and is much smaller.

Indeed, I see an almost identical vehicle each morning with 30 or so construction workers plus their gear, sardines certainly, but the vehicle is not overweight (2.5 tons in the back).

But is it legal to carry passengers, Licensed for private hire?? approved seating--with seat belts. SO converted from a flat bed lorry to a public/private hire and given a license by the authority in that area.???

Like " This vehicle is licensed to carry" x number of passengers ??

[jdinasia]

Is that songtheaw legal? Yes.

as for the rest .. seat belts in a songtheaw? Have you ever been to Thailand?

[Munger]

The overcrowded songhtaew is daily thing. Or is this surprise for you guys?

There were about 20 adults on the one I was on in Bangkok a couple of weeks ago. So 27 children could easily fit on. 7 children seated either side, 10 standing inside, 3 standing on the back. Easy. No overcrowding would mean 3 buses needed instead of one, so who would pay for the extra buses? Thailand is poorer than Western nations, so standards are bound to be lower. When Western nations were as poor as Thailand, standards were very low indeed. Better safety comes with increasing wealth. There is a lot they could do to improve safety, but many on here expect 1st world safety at developing world prices.

You may have enjoyed your trip on a songtaew, but these school kids deserve better in the land of smiles.

Thailand may be a developing country, but when this government can plan to spend trillions on High Speed Rail and has wasted billions on the rice scam, surely they could help to finance safer transport for schoolchildren.

bus4.JPG If you think this is responsible transport I am stunned.

davejones, does like to apologise for the thais