By the numbers, here are Thailand’s deadliest accidents
By Coconuts Bangkok



BANGKOK: -- There’s a strange addiction to disaster porn, one well-served by these vast, wide Internets.

Whether it betrays our truly ghoulish natures, desire to create our own nightmares or need for perspective on our mortality is for smarter people to decide.

Here are some of Thailand’s deadliest man-made disasters, according to a list compiled at Dek-D and other online sources.

223 passengers and crew died in Thailand’s worst commercial aviation disaster, caused by a pilot’s negligence.


Thailand’s deadliest aviation accident happened on May 26, 1991, when Lauda Air Flight 004 from Hong Kong to Vienna stopped at Don Mueang Airport to pick up passengers. A few minutes after the plane left Don Mueang, the pilot ignored a warning light on his console.

Turned out the jet’s thrust reverser was deployed, and when the crew found this out, it was already too late.

The plane broke up mid-air and none of its 223 crew and passengers survived.

The plane broke up mid-air and none of its 223 crew and passengers survived.

A memorial for the victims of Lauda Air 004 is located at Phu Toei National Park, Suphan Buri.


207 curious souls killed in delayed detonation at Baan Tung Mapraw. [read more...]

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2014/06/09/numbers-here-are-thailands-deadliest-accidents


-- Coconuts Bangkok 2014-06-09

1990-93 seemed to be a particularly bad period for serious accidents, just as Thailand's economic growth was at its height and health and safety corners were being cut everywhere to keep the bandwaggon rolling. At the same time, the World Bank and IMF were hailing Thailand as the miracle economy and new Asian tiger, soon ready to leave the ranks of NIC-status and become a "developed nation". Seems like the neo-liberal economic pundits were a tad hasty on that one, also missing the Asian economic crash in 97 and continuing two-track economy between the haves and have-nots brought about by their prescriptions for "growth at any cost".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_disasters_in_Thailand

That Petchaburi Road inferno in 1990 was nasty.

How many people where killed when truck carrying explosives turned over in Phuket ?,

They were all over the truck and trailer trying to "salvage" goods when it exploded,

normal people would try and get far away from an accident like that,but.

regards worgeordie

Was anything learned from any of of those accidents, or did they just keep on keeping on?

Was anything learned from any of of those accidents, or did they just keep on keeping on?

probably lots learned but nothing implemented.......nothing

I doubt anyone changed their behavior, but just as importantly, I'll bet there were no consequences for those responsible for these tragedies.

How do we manage to stay alive here?

Was anything learned from any of of those accidents, or did they just keep on keeping on?

how to say Mai pen rai,over and over or blame it on ghosts.

The photos added aren't very good.

I was looking to get some lottery numbers.

On February 15, 1991, a truck carrying dynamite to a stone quarry overturned at Baan Tung Mapraw, in Phang Nga province. Local villagers gathered to check the accident without knowing that two hours later the dynamite would explode.

The blast killed 207 people and left 525 injured.

Jimminy Crickets!

The immediate aftermath of that must have been some scene!

Just as well camera phones weren't invented back then.

137 guests crushed in collapse of Royal Plaza Hotel

Cause? Three years earlier, the owners had doubled the buildings height from three to six stories without official permission.

At 10pm on the evening of Sep. 24, 1990, an LPG tanker was speeding along New Petchburi Road to beat a red light

when another vehicle rammed into it hard. The tanker slid off the road and its two tanks – incorrectly mounted and loaded with highly explosive, pressurized gas

– came off the rig. As the 40,000-liter gas tanks exploded, the nightmare began. A sea of fire caused significant damage. At least 80 people were killed and 51 households destroyed.

I'm starting to see a trend.

I remember nasty incidents after the Lauda Air crash when "body snatchers" were caught looting valuables from the dead. Since there was a group of Thai royally connected VIPs amongst the victims the police actually did something about it and a lot of stolen jewellery was recovered.

Although the Lauda Air disaster happened over Thai airspace on a flight originating from a Thai airport, to be fair as a foreign carrier it shouldn't be grouped together in Thailand's deadliest accidents per se (even if the death toll would put it there) because it could be misinterpreted as a failing of safety standards that is somehow connected to Thailand's own poor track record of safety standards. This would of course be false - because the reason for that crash was the result of pilot error - it was simply a coincidence that the flight happened to end over Thai airspace.

Irrespective of the causes, the 1991 THAI crash that happened in Nepal and the 1998 Surat Thani crash (which happened to be the last time a THAI flight suffered a fatal incident) would be more appropriate as examples here, simply because the carrier involved is Thai.

Don't give a rats ass about seeing all this but Mr. or MRS. Coconut... There is only 1 (yes 1) internet. Tnx

Slow news day?

One Two Go and Thai Orient avoided the blame for the Phuket disaster. The old Thai Orient 747,s can still be seen parked up after Europe banned the airline.

A quick google will tell you,the true story

Didn't around 120 people die when a ferry pier on the Chao Praya sank through overloading in the 90's?

Also, another pier sank at the Mae Nam Hotel, full or revellers. Not sure how many died there ...

The 2011 flood was the most deadly 'accident' I can remember in recent times. Not releasing the water from the dams on time, and then trying to prevent the inevitable as it slowly but surely made its way to the sea turned what should have been a very manageable problem into a disaster on the grandest of scales.

A very ugly thread and perhaps indicative of how desperate Thai Visa is for views and revenue.

Sad and shameful.

. . . because the reason for that crash was the result of pilot error

The fundamental reason for the Lauda Air crash was an uncommanded thrust reverser deployment, caused by an engine system failure. Boeing subsequently modified the 767 to prevent this from happening again.

The flight crew were a bit slow to recognize the problem - no surprise considering how unexpected and unusual it was - but there is now broad consensus that such a mid-air deployment was probably unsurvivable in any case.

I know and like the guys at Coconuts but aviation journalists they're not.

I would Like to know the death toll of all the motorbike deaths and what about all the bus wrecks lately. How many poeple in Thailand die each year from these? I heard about 1 million on motorbikes alone. Why isn't this mentioned as # 1?

Third world mentality when it comes to accidents , you only had to see that Mini van collided with a truck and exploded , killing 12 people last week , the police chief commented that the driver was killed on impact, the van was obliterated , it would appear that Thai's have not got it entirely together , whilst this sort of behaviour go's on, Thailand will always be regarded as a back water, regardless of what TAT say's

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I would Like to know the death toll of all the motorbike deaths and what about all the bus wrecks lately. How many poeple in Thailand die each year from these? I heard about 1 million on motorbikes alone. Why isn't this mentioned as # 1?

SSsSh this is the dark side of Thailand , the tourists might hear.

I guess I should of also added in my earlier post ,not only 1 million people die on a motorbike a year in Thailand, but if you put a pencil to that number its 2793 per day on average. I still say that should be the #1 most deaths in Thailand. Very sad. It's not about motorcycles, its about how they ride them and the careless way automobile drivers not looking where they are going.

. . . because the reason for that crash was the result of pilot error

The fundamental reason for the Lauda Air crash was an uncommanded thrust reverser deployment, caused by an engine system failure. Boeing subsequently modified the 767 to prevent this from happening again.

From airplane to airborne, free falling tank turning.

A very ugly thread and perhaps indicative of how desperate Thai Visa is for views and revenue.

Sad and shameful.

Extremely ugly .. absolutely no reason to post this except to provide fodder for the unhappy Thai Bashers ... this isn't even a news item. Might be appropriate to run after a very deadly disaster but assume CocoNuts were just to desperate to wait and run the story when they could even pretend their was relevance.