29 killed in Thailand bus accident: police

[Mobi]

An interesting aspect of this news story - which someone commented would be yelled from the rooftops in all media in any other country - is that the news appears to have been broken by AFP, followed by the excellent Thai PBS (English language section) but so far, as far as I can determine, it is completely absent from the nations' two leading English language newspapers - The Bangkok Post and the Nation.

30 people killed outright in a single bus crash and not a dicky bird...

In the Thai press, as far as I have been able to determine, the story is carried by the Thai Rath but I can find no mention of it in the Daily News.

Is this just apathy, as so many are killed on the roads every day, that even an accident involving 30 fatalities is no longer considered newsworthy?

Or are there more sinister reasons- i.e., play down the bad news as it will affect Thailand's international standing and more importantly, the tourist business.

There has already been a strong suspicion for some time that many of the horrendous crimes in Pattaya against foreigners often go unreported for similar reasons.

It does make you wonder...

[yooyoo]

There absolutely no way I would take a bus in Thailand.

It is the right decision ... road accident fatalities in Thailand are very high .... bus accidents like this are becoming a common feature.. poorly trained and overworked drivers.. long profits!!

[Just1Voice]

I had to make 3 border runs from Chiang Mai to Vientiane prior to getting my Marriage Visa (which I later changed to Retirement). First time was on VIP bus. 2nd & 3rd times I said "To hell with this <deleted>" and rented a 650 Ninja. Left it parked, with heavy duty chain & lock on Thai side, took bus to Vientiane, came back the next day and rode home. Going and coming back to CNX were safer, and a hell of a lot more fun.

[BSJ]

For those of you who have never been up to the North East you may not realise how rugged the country is.....and how ordinary the roads are.

For those that died it's a complete waste and for their families it's really sad time for them. And to think it needlessly happened and nothing will be done to stop it happening again to others.

[MJP]

For MMarlow above . . .

Regarding the Russians . . .

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/683147-russian-tourism-group-threatens-thailand-boycott/

Regarding the rest, just as an example . . .

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/australian-travellers-face-greatest-arrest-risk-in-the-us-higher-chance-of-death-in-thailand/story-fnizu68q-1226694951575

Can't be bothered looking at a link you provide so no idea what's in them. My reponse to your post is unchanged.

Also take a look at my post #79 on this thread, I think I expanded on the issue of government price fixing tariffs for public transport later in the thread . . .

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/679160-tourist-boat-sinks-outside-pattaya-at-least-5-foreigners-dead-many-seriously-injured/page-4

[toonsai]

An interesting aspect of this news story - which someone commented would be yelled from the rooftops in all media in any other country - is that the news appears to have been broken by AFP, followed by the excellent Thai PBS (English language section) but so far, as far as I can determine, it is completely absent from the nations' two leading English language newspapers - The Bangkok Post and the Nation.

30 people killed outright in a single bus crash and not a dicky bird...

In the Thai press, as far as I have been able to determine, the story is carried by the Thai Rath but I can find no mention of it in the Daily News.

Is this just apathy, as so many are killed on the roads every day, that even an accident involving 30 fatalities is no longer considered newsworthy?

Or are there more sinister reasons- i.e., play down the bad news as it will affect Thailand's international standing and more importantly, the tourist business.

There has already been a strong suspicion for some time that many of the horrendous crimes in Pattaya against foreigners often go unreported for similar reasons.

It does make you wonder...

WRONG

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/At-least-32-killed-when-bus-falls-from-bridge-into-30223060.html

[NoshowJones]

Words fail me. If this happened in NZ it would be considered almost a national disaster and there would be a royal commission established to determine causes.

If there were any discrepancies in the drivers log book, hours spent driving versus the legal allowed hours, vehicle maintenance logs or any other causes that could be attributed to the company or its managers, then manslaughter charges would be made.

In Thailand, it's just same <deleted>, different day.

Does anyone know if Thai bus drivers have log books or tachographs? Are they checked? Do officers of any kind go to the bus depots and check the tachos for speeding, or to make sure the drivers do not drive outwith the hours they are allowed? I would bet that tachos or log books (if they have any) are hardly ever checked, otherwise there would not be all these accidents.

[newcomer71]

Many factors here could been involved.

Bad bus maintenance, inadequate driver rest. possible drug influence on bus driver, high speed... or much more.

But most of all condolences to all the relatives of the deceased people.

And the day Thai roads will be safer, will be always too late.

[MK1]

If a driver falls asleep then the question is why? In a civilised country it is negligence as the driver and the company are not fit for purpose. But in Thailand, it is the face saving cop out.

I tend to agree in part, and while the root cause is still yet to be determined including if latest report is anything to go by; mechanical brake failure cannot be ruled-out.

According to the latest reported by Thai PBS; Police said that the driver was driving down the mountainous bridge at high speed and lost control as he tried to swerve a curb. It skidded and rammed at the side of the bridge railing and fell into the 50-meter ravine below.

Brake failure again?--------- Did the brakes fail before or after he FELL ASLEEP ?????

Police only SUSPECT the driver fell asleep and we can only assume the driver also died and if this is the case then ‘dead people don’t usually tell lies' do they? and any story thereafter assigning the blame to human-error on the insurance claim form, at first, sounds better than the company is to blame.

Since the Bus was in high-speed motion down the mountainous bridge which is consistent with losing control ( refer to numerous Phuket, Patong hill bus accidents) then mechanical-brake-failure cannot be ruled out also. Please take into account the media only publish what is fed to them by Police.

Edited December 27, 2013 by Scott
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[XpatMike]

Don't expect anything to change (yes, we say that far too often). In the early 90s, I read a report in The Nation that was headlined something like "Thailand's worst year ever for road fatalities" (18,000, if I remember correctly). I waited for a day for some official reaction. Not a bloody peep from anyone. I wrote a letter of outrage to the editor, but it drew not a single response. Nada, zilch. Since then, as many as half a million people have been killed on the roads in Thailand - twice as many as the 2004 tsunami. I shudder to think of the number of people permanently incapacitated, the number of parentless children, the destruction to families, the effect on communities, the cost to the taxpayer.

SNAFU!

[ginjag]

For those of you who have never been up to the North East you may not realise how rugged the country is.....and how ordinary the roads are.

For those that died it's a complete waste and for their families it's really sad time for them. And to think it needlessly happened and nothing will be done to stop it happening again to others.

I didn't get the location-re the North East ???? to my mind the Nth West, is Chiang Mai area, Nth east is KKhen/Udon Mukdahan central being BKK area up to Khorat across to Nakorn Sawan, Eastern seaboard Pattaya/Rayong/Chantaburi. West Thailand Kanchantaburi area, Western seaboard goes down to Surat area. South Thailand is down the elephants trunk to Malaysia

APPROX. This bus incident was in the N/East ????

[Packu2]

As I have become accustomed to saying

"Thailand - a great place to die in"

Should be the new PR slogan.

[inThailand1]

Next week I have to travel from Chiang Mai to Vientiane. I went to the bus station and asked all the bus companies if any of them have daytime busses. One had a bus that leaves in the afternoon and arrives in the middle of the night, the others said we no have.

Please - does anyone know of a bus I can take on my way back form Vientiane (friendship bridge) to Chiang Mai, that travels in the daytime?

Maybe this sounds stupid but fly to Udon, or Vientiane or even KKhen and get your visa KKhen and bus to Vientiane.

I am going to fly to Udon and was going to take a bus back to Chiang Mai. I guess maybe my question sounded stupid, but my point was, I believe daytime busses would be much safer than nighttime busses.

ps: I believe living in Thailand is great. I love it here. And I understand that safety and the infrastructure in western countries is not here. Sad to hear about the fatalities. Someone wrote the Thai people don't care, I don't believe that. This is the worst bus accident I heard about, I hope it is a wake up call to the bus companies and drivers.

[mok199]

again uneduacted drivers with no...................................................................................or little experience....these buses need ''allerters''as we have in locomotives,they need to phsically reset by hand depending on the speed ,the faster the speed the more frequently the driver must respond,i know from 35 years on the railway the old days were terrible the ''deadman'' or allerter was easliy imobilzed ,and we slept on track we were familliar with,but lets face it, running on rails and running on a busy highway are 2 different animals....these days we have 2 in thelocomaotive cab with allerters and computers that need constant attention which helps...but human error will always be an issue in the transportation industry,.......

[cup-O-coffee]

COC's Complete Law of Thai Lunacy: "There is no emergency and/or crisis in Thailand until it happens. Hence, before and after an emergency and/or crisis in Thailand, there is no emergency or crisis"

The term "accident" (i.e. "oops!") has never, in my remembrance, been so abused as is here.

Driving and operating a motor vehicle is, I am beginning to believe, a very legitimate litmus test on how a society and culture thinks, believes and rationalizes the challenges that life tosses their way.

My sympathy to the living being cancelled out due to my regret and anger that they will do absolutely nothing about this; like refusing to give to the beggar who begs every day.

If Thai people can't get t into their skulls to join forces and form a protest and kill a few people over ensuring safer transportation, or ensuring the safety of their children, then I wonder what in the world they think they will accomplish in Bangkok, protesting over ludicrous and unreachable ideals.

'Funny what motivates these lunatics.

Again, my sympathy to the living, but to be truthful, I truly value where I place my sympathy, and it is simply cancelled out due to my regret and anger that they will do absolutely nothing about this... absolutely nothing at all.

[SvenSoda]

here a Vdo.

[thaikahuna]

"We suspect the bus driver fell asleep,"

Ya think? Every day its the same shit, drunk, tired, hopped up on M-150, lack of training and experience....

Since there are no liability laws in place...with any teeth, nothing is about to change. RIP and condolences to the families.

[nottocus]

Mai Pen Rai.

Buddha will take care of everything.

[deecee10]

How often this type of thing happens.

It's getting such that I don't feel like even commenting anymore.

[ginjag]

Next week I have to travel from Chiang Mai to Vientiane. I went to the bus station and asked all the bus companies if any of them have daytime busses. One had a bus that leaves in the afternoon and arrives in the middle of the night, the others said we no have.

Please - does anyone know of a bus I can take on my way back form Vientiane (friendship bridge) to Chiang Mai, that travels in the daytime?

Maybe this sounds stupid but fly to Udon, or Vientiane or even KKhen and get your visa KKhen and bus to Vientiane.

I am going to fly to Udon and was going to take a bus back to Chiang Mai. I guess maybe my question sounded stupid, but my point was, I believe daytime busses would be much safer than nighttime busses.

ps: I believe living in Thailand is great. I love it here. And I understand that safety and the infrastructure in western countries is not here. Sad to hear about the fatalities. Someone wrote the Thai people don't care, I don't believe that. This is the worst bus accident I heard about, I hope it is a wake up call to the bus companies and drivers.

Good man, I don't think your post was stupid, true re safer daytime, but with a bad driver/company near the same.

In my opinion Thai people do care in general but are put off expressing their opinion. Rarely do you get feedback from Thai people they think it's wrong to ask or QUESTION. With Thailand being in the top 3 of deaths re road accidents wake up call has long been forgotten. Mostly words no action all be it limited.

Happy New Year mate.

[MJP]

It's hit the Beeb . . .

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25524009

Traffic accidents are common in Thailand. In July, 19 people were killed in a collision between a bus and a lorry in central Thailand.

The World Health Organisation says that Thailand has a "much higher" rate of deaths from traffic accidents than most other countries in South East Asia.

Poor safety standards and busy roads are thought to be a factor.

Edited December 27, 2013 by MJP

[khunpa]

Here we go again... and next week it will be the same... Why? Because nobody will ever want to learn from mistakes, admit faults, take the blame and do something to improve things in this country. (Unless it affects them personally and is about money)

Bad luck will be the excuse and then life just goes on...

[MJP]

Here we go again... and next week it will be the same... Why? Because nobody will ever want to learn from mistakes, admit faults, take the blame and do something to improve things in this country. (Unless it affects them personally and is about money)

Bad luck will be the excuse and then life just goes on...

Outta likes.

I have to agree. I also agree with many of the posters here saying what's the point in condolences when nothing changes and even the poster who said "is this really news?"

[almavro]

Sad condolences to the victims, including their loved ones.

Someone asked about the "northeast" terminology. That is not happenstance: The Northeast is an official designation for -- well -- northeast Thailand. The dividing line between NE and N Thailand is Chaiyaphum (the westernmost NE province) and Petchabun (the easternmost N province). The bus route took it from the NE to the N. While the accident took place just inside the border between the two zones, it is correct to call this a NE bus in the sense that Khon kaen was the point of origin.

I live near Chumphae and drive this route via Nam Nao and Lomsak to Petchabun several times a year. Before the road was secured from the Communist Party of Thailand in the 70s, we had to drive down to Korat, over to Saraburi, and back up, in order to stay on main roads between here and Petchabun: talk about going around Robin Hood's barn! Lots of road improvements since then... but no change at all in the driving habits, unfortunately.

[oztaurus]

Words fail me. If this happened in NZ it would be considered almost a national disaster and there would be a royal commission established to determine causes.

If there were any discrepancies in the drivers log book, hours spent driving versus the legal allowed hours, vehicle maintenance logs or any other causes that could be attributed to the company or its managers, then manslaughter charges would be made.

In Thailand, it's just same <deleted>, different day.

"drivers log books"

"vehicle maintenance logs"

"legal allowed hours"

mai khao jai

however - my condolences to the families of the victims, nothing can ever truly ease their pain.

Edited December 27, 2013 by oztaurus

[SunsetT]

Next week I have to travel from Chiang Mai to Vientiane. I went to the bus station and asked all the bus companies if any of them have daytime busses. One had a bus that leaves in the afternoon and arrives in the middle of the night, the others said we no have.

Please - does anyone know of a bus I can take on my way back form Vientiane (friendship bridge) to Chiang Mai, that travels in the daytime?

Maybe this sounds stupid but fly to Udon, or Vientiane or even KKhen and get your visa KKhen and bus to Vientiane.

I am going to fly to Udon and was going to take a bus back to Chiang Mai. I guess maybe my question sounded stupid, but my point was, I believe daytime busses would be much safer than nighttime busses.

ps: I believe living in Thailand is great. I love it here. And I understand that safety and the infrastructure in western countries is not here. Sad to hear about the fatalities. Someone wrote the Thai people don't care, I don't believe that. This is the worst bus accident I heard about, I hope it is a wake up call to the bus companies and drivers.

Flying to Udon is definitely the safest option, but another solution would be to make daytime bus journeys over 2 even 3 days with an overnight stopover each way somewhere. Change your conception of the trip into a mini holiday. Relax and enjoy it instead of enduring an uncomfortable 12hrs + cramped up on a cold overnight bus seat worrying if you're about to die on every bend and if you're going to survive the journey! I try to do this when I visa run into Laos and have to stay over for a couple of nights so I dont overstay in Thailand before my booked flight home to the UK when my 3x60 day visa expires. I treat it not as an inconvenient visa run but as a holiday. Another problem is that u can freeze to death on these overnight bus trips at this time of year as the driver will not or cannot turn off the very efficient air conditioning in the more modern buses. They are warm and cosy in their separate cab in the front and dont care about the passengers freezing in the back. I had this problem just this week on a Sombat Nakhon Phanom to Chiang Rai bus, and I was only going as far as Udon Thani which arrived at 18.45! I was absolutely freezing wearing socks, shoes, jeans, 2 fleeces over my T shirt and a fleece hat! The 'steward' ignored my 'Naow mak mak' and 'Mai aow air krap' comments/requests from about 5pm onwards, and I even saw him opening the overhead air vents after passengers who had previously closed them got off the bus. Another safety plus about travelling by day bus is their crawling along picking up and dropping off students everywhere. This used to really annoy me but at least it keeps their speed down.

[sirchai]

No Happy New Year for so many...RIP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!-

[belg]

all you need to drive a bus here is a drivers licence you can buy/payoff someone, i assume

taking 29 people into death

fell asleep on being on yaba...

[hutchings1963]

well here i see volvos,scanias and they have tacos in here but dont use them,i have man across street who is a truck driver he asked me how long are we alllowed to drive in the uk i told 9 hours then must have 11 hours off,i told him you can only do 45 hours a week,he says he drives 18 hours a day then has 5 hours sleep then drives again,at the moment he has a bad hand but still drives to bangkok regually but takes his wife with him.

[Gsxrnz]

Words fail me. If this happened in NZ it would be considered almost a national disaster and there would be a royal commission established to determine causes.

If there were any discrepancies in the drivers log book, hours spent driving versus the legal allowed hours, vehicle maintenance logs or any other causes that could be attributed to the company or its managers, then manslaughter charges would be made.

In Thailand, it's just same <deleted>, different day.

1. Driver's Log-Book ?

2. Hours spent driving <> Legal hours allowed ?

3. Vehicle Maintenance Logs ?

4. Vehicle Safety Records ?

5. Driver's Driver's License ?

Are you diluted, or don't you know how things work in Thailand ? ? ? ?

NONE of the above either exist, are practiced or are adhered-to in Thailand.

It's not that the LAWS aren't here; they are and they are EXCELLENT laws, the only problem is NOBODY ENFORCES THESE LAWS ! ! ! !

Love Thailand, but HATE some of the prevailing conditions here !

(PS: 21 years working/living in Thailand)

You can't read can you. What's more, you have no comprehension of sarcasm or irony. You must have been absent when they were handing it out that day.

Read the post again and then consider what the intention was. And don't come out with your guns blazing saying idiotic trash such as "Are you diluted, or don't you know how things work in Thailand ? ? ? ?".

Twenty one years huh? Hmmm.....priceless.

Edited December 27, 2013 by Gsxrnz