Indian tourists killed in van crash on elevated road to Suvarnabhumi Airport

[webfact]

Three killed, six injured when van crashes into watering truck

BANGKOK: -- A chartered van transporting Indian tourists to the Suvarnabhumi International Airport crashed into the rear of watering truck on the elevated road leading to the airport at 10:45 am Monday, killing two Indian tourists and injuring six others. The Thai driver of the van was also killed police said.

The two slain tourists were identified as Nupur Dewan, 29, and Suresh Kumar Dewan, 68.

The injured tourists were rushed to the Chularat 9 Hospital.

Police said the van driver was apparently speeding on the elevated road and could not avoid the truck, which was watering trees, in time.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Three-killed-six-injured-when-van-crashes-into-wat-30250923.html


-- The Nation 2014-12-29

[Nuddy]

I have been in one of those Vans driving from Ayutthaya to Bangkok. In fact many times over.

Its very easy at high speed to have the traffic depart from the lane in front of you only to find an obstacle there dead centre in where you are going.

Sure, fallowing too close behind other vehicles, driving too fast, inattention, lack of skill in driving all of those but I still had to get to town.

What would you expect for 100 baht over 80 kilometres?

Certainly beats the never come trains.

Its an odds game we mostly play

Regards

[dcsw53]

How often do you see some obstruction on dual carriageways without any warning in advance. Lane closures ( often multiple ) are never flagged up as in other countries and the evasive action needed often causes accidents.

We need warnings of obstructions 1km in advance on these roads, coupled with realistic penalties like loss of licence for the braindead, mostly minibus drivers, idiots speeding and cutting in dangerously.

[ToddinChonburi]

Another very sad story of unexpecting tourists that do not have a clue they are going on there last ride. There is no infomation out there warning people of these dangers our embassies fail all of this by not sending out warnings.

[wvavin]

Oh, a fairly early start of the annual New Year road death on Thai roads.

[SPB65]

And so it goes on. More innocent people killed by a moronic Thai van driver. This one of the many great shames of this country. After these last few days of carnage lets see some figures for the total amount of foreigners killed in Thailand in 2014. This country needs to be named and shamed on many levels. "Thainess" is no excuse anymore.

[SOTIRIOS]

....a shame....and a disgrace.....

,,,an immature....almost infantile urge to impress.....

....utter madness....

.....(...and these car commercials that show near-impossible stunts.....that certainly does not help....)

[Keesters]

Or fix the automatic sprinklers that were setup and obviously don't work now! 55555

There are pop up sprinklers all up and down the medians here in Pattaya.

You need water in the pipes for the sprinklers to work. That hardly ever happens or is at such a low pressure it wouldn't be of much use.

Edited December 29, 2014 by Keesters

[MJKT2014]

Well in my experience water rucks tend to be rather large and brightly coloured, many have powerful illuminated signs that show arrows regarding which direction one should take to avoid ramming said truck.

There's a video of the aftermath on FB showing your assumptions to be wrong. The water truck probably had little in the way of warning signs on it for such a hazardous operation. Warning the content is graphic as the driver passes the minivan.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=712509745513554

[Keesters]

deleted...tablet made a mess of posting...fixed with desktop. Sorry

Edited December 29, 2014 by Keesters

[how241]

I have often wondered how many people have to die in these vans before the government

starts to rein them in . Apparently the number is much larger than I thought..

+1...sad, but true.

[laislica]

A tragic accident, I feel for all those involved, the dead, the injured, their families, the rescue workers, hospital workers etc.

My Thai brother in law takes care of us when we are in Thailand and I used to think that, as a driver, he was overcautious.

Many times I would have chanced it and set off but not any more.

Another brother in law, No. 3, younger and much less cautious and he reminds me of how safe I feel with brother No.1 !

We often take vans to and from Bangkok and of late, the standard of van driving has improved (or have I got used to it?)

Not always in the outside lane, are sometimes overtaken by faster cars and trucks.

We sat in the front seats of a van recently and the driver was really careful and good.
I thanked him and complimented him on his excellent driving.

He was visibly pleased to receive the compliment.

I am thinking of offering a tip at the start of any journey for good and safe driving.

The cost of the journey is about 40b per person which is very, very cheap. By taxi the journey would be 200b up and still cheap.

With the recent increase, maybe 240b so the van is about 160b cheaper.

I would give 50b as a tip if that helped the driver drive calmly.

Maybe such a simple idea could work?

I get the feeling that they drive as quickly as possible so as to cram as many journeys in per day to make their money.

(My wife said, sure more journeys = more money)

So maybe a tip would work.

[Commerce]

In my past experience, a long time ago, when getting into a van, I used to observe the drivers and traffic. The drivers only look at what is infront, if they can get past it, tailagte it, flash lights etc., or swerve to the middle lane gap to accelerate to pass it. These vans have powerful 3.0ltr engines, despite payload carried.

Any advanced driver does not look or observe the car infront, but looks way ahead at shadows of vehicles and brake lights of vehicles way ahead. When I say advanced, I mean exactly that, as per advanced driver's licence in the Weat. An advanced driver passing a school, for example, would certainly slow down, and be observant of shadows underneath cars moving, before a child ran out.

I doubt very much there is a comparative advanced driver in Thailand at all, anywhere! Please correct me, if you know of anybody with an advanced driver's licence.

As for van drivers, I would say 99% have never taken any form of learning beyond passing a driving test in a car, assuming they have passed that. Which does not, in reality, give them the ability to drive a commercial van at high speed. It is the van driver who is responsible for the majority of deaths from van accidents unless, of course, a coach smacks into and on top of you!

[Commerce]

RIP. Happiness to the foreigner people!!!!!! They'll never learn in this 3rd world country. Let see again how many this coming week.

Piss take, right? Otherwise, rather insensitive don't you think?

[FangFerang]

"Some of the injured tourists are relatives of the Indian diplomats to Thailand."

That ups the ante quite a bit.

[MiKT]

There is NO excuse for not seeing a water truck. If you was driving at the correct speed with your eyes open. Free of drink and drugs. Not changing cd's or texting on your phone. Or perhaps having an argument with your wife, even on hands free. Its not rocket science, just common sense.

Yeah right. That exactly what one expects to see in the outside lane of the expressway. A water truck moving at 10k per hour. You are an arrogant fool.

Best or worst I ever saw was a car parked on the downslope of one of the humps of the klongs on the to highway to pattaya.

My heart rate went to 200 as I came over the brow of the hump.

NO, YOU ARE AN ARROGANT FOOL. if you live and drive in Thailand you bl..dy well do expect to see water trucks and anything else in the outside lane of the motorway, even police cars going the wrong way. If you can't handle it, don't drive here.

[jamiesilver]

if anyone has seen the actual graphic images of this, its very sad.
An indian couple are literally hanging out of the window in each others arms.

[Jungle Jim]

Let me guess they were doing over 100 mph and tail gating the water truck. The mini vans do seem to be the most dangerous way to travel in Thailand. Foreigners seem to love the death traps. Tried to warn a guy the other day it was better to perhaps take a bus. His answer and he had newbie written all over him. "I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING ! " Yea right i said as i walked away. Idiot !

Edited December 29, 2014 by Jungle Jim

[Xircal]

I usually stay at C&N Hotel in Patong when I come to Thailand which provides a free airport transfer if you book via their site and stay at least three days. But they use one of these vans for the airport pickup and the driver always hogs the outside lane regardless of traffic conditions. It inevitably leads to other vehicles overtaking on the inside lane and there have been times where I've wondered whether we would get to our destination in one piece especially when it's wet with spray being thrown up by vehicles cutting in front of us.

Tour buses tend to hog the outside lane as well which only adds to the sense of impending doom especially when climbing Patong hill during a thunderstorm.

[ChrisY1]

Just so many things wrong with Thai roads, drivers and the total disregard for following ANY rules here!

This van was really moving......140+ by the look of it.......hitting a water cart, most likely in the outside lane, the fastest lane usually, creeping along at 5kph watering flowers.......how totally <deleted!> stupid is that....on a major freeway!...But....quite an accepted practice here in Thailand.

[lvr181]

Or fix the automatic sprinklers that were setup and obviously don't work now! 55555

There are pop up sprinklers all up and down the medians here in Pattaya.

"There are pop up sprinklers all up and down the medians here in Pattaya."

Probably not intended, but quite a funny comment!!

My lateral sense of humour joins with you on that one

I read somewhere, that if you do not have a sense of humour you have nothing.

[Langeman]

I have often wondered how many people have to die in these vans before the government

starts to rein them in . Apparently the number is much larger than I thought..

This driver are all time tierd end driving all time close ather car, who the can brake end stop fast enught.Speed are meny time more then 120 km /hr

[Doc46]

An other day an other van/bus when is the Government going to wake up out of their Coma and do something about the most incapable drivers in the world,This country has by far the most useless dangerous drivers in the world ,,,, This has to stop,,,To many innocent people are getting killed because the government is like an ostrich,,,,sticking their head in the sand and see Jack &lt;deleted&gt;.

[Nickymaster]

OMG! Again a fatal accident with a freaking minivan. Top heavy quick vehicles being driven like race cars on public roads by complete morons.

Every single day I see them speeding trough traffic. WHEN is this going to stop??

RIP to the victims.

[joebrown]

There is NO excuse for not seeing a water truck. If you was driving at the correct speed with your eyes open. Free of drink and drugs. Not changing cd's or texting on your phone. Or perhaps having an argument with your wife, even on hands free. Its not rocket science, just common sense.

Yeah right. That exactly what one expects to see in the outside lane of the expressway. A water truck moving at 10k per hour. You are an arrogant fool.

Best or worst I ever saw was a car parked on the downslope of one of the humps of the klongs on the to highway to pattaya.

My heart rate went to 200 as I came over the brow of the hump.

I have no sympathy with any driver who drives 'without due care and attention' on any Thai road. However, anyone whose spent more than a couple of months on the roads here should remember that EU or US driving conditions don't exist, and one should drive so as to 'expect the unexpected'. Your arrogance and lack of understanding of the fundamentals of driving in LOS is beyond belief.

[Travelman868]

We were headed to Bangkok last week. In the fast lane of the motorway doing 100km or so. Quite a bit of traffic, moving along nicely, but lots of vehicles.

I'm pretty good about keeping my distance. Tough to do here as even a small gap gets taken advantage of many times.

All of a sudden, the cars in front were moving over. Fast. It happened quickly. They had blocked a majority of the fast lane with NO advance warning. There were 3-4 cones fairly near each other that were blocking off the fast lane, with maintenance vehicles right behind them.

All you have to do is be distracted for just a few seconds, and you're into blocked lane and a major accident. I also see these water trucks all the time in Pattaya. No flashing lights, no workers waving a flag a bit up the road. Just there in the fast lane moving slow.

The speed limit on the motorway is 120 KPH so what were you doing in the fast lane???????? AND when driving in Thailand your not allowed to be distracted

for even 1 second.

[joebrown]

We were headed to Bangkok last week. In the fast lane of the motorway doing 100km or so. Quite a bit of traffic, moving along nicely, but lots of vehicles.

I'm pretty good about keeping my distance. Tough to do here as even a small gap gets taken advantage of many times.

All of a sudden, the cars in front were moving over. Fast. It happened quickly. They had blocked a majority of the fast lane with NO advance warning. There were 3-4 cones fairly near each other that were blocking off the fast lane, with maintenance vehicles right behind them.

All you have to do is be distracted for just a few seconds, and you're into blocked lane and a major accident. I also see these water trucks all the time in Pattaya. No flashing lights, no workers waving a flag a bit up the road. Just there in the fast lane moving slow.

Maybe you are from the UK, and if so you should know that the Highway Police would immediately frown on you for referring to the outside lane of any highway as the 'fast' lane. When speeding motorists are stopped by the Police, they are always reminded of the fact that the outside lane is just that, or more correctly the 'overtaking' lane. I'm not suggesting you were 'speeding' when the incident you refer to took place, but for heaven's sake, just remember where you are, and what to expect ie 'the unexpected'!

[Kitsune]

Most vans driving on motorways are not respecting security distances with the vehicle in front.

They don't understand that driving at 120km/h 5 meters away from the car in front, will guarantee them a crash, if the driver in front breaks.

[MiKT]

An other day an other van/bus when is the Government going to wake up out of their Coma and do something about the most incapable drivers in the world,This country has by far the most useless dangerous drivers in the world ,,,, This has to stop,,,To many innocent people are getting killed because the government is like an ostrich,,,,sticking their head in the sand and see Jack <deleted>.

If you think Thai's are the most incapable, useless, dangerous drivers in the world, you ain't been anywhere. The list of far worse countries is too long to bother telling you and that's only places I have been. As they used to say "Farang by barn".

[NCC1701A]

that video is really horrible.

the drivers always text with big tablets while they drive.

two or three seconds distraction makes the difference.

i had to keep making sure my driver was still awake during my last trip.

if you are reading this and thinking about coming to Thailand and think this is rare or it will not happen to you, think again.

Edited December 29, 2014 by NCC1701A