Eight Myanmar migrant workers die in road mishap

[webfact]

Eight Myanmar migrant workers die in road mishap

BANGKOK: -- Eight Myanmar migrant workers were killed and a dozen injured when a pickup truck they were travelling back homes after work crashed into a concrete barrier on the Rama 2 highway in Samut Sakhon province Monday night.

The pickup truck driven by a Myanmar worker was sending the workers back to their living quarters after finishing work at a construction site.

The truck driver said he swerved to avoid another vehicle which came into his traffic lane.

The truck lost balance and rammed at the barrier, killing five workers at the scene and injuring over a dozen.

All the injured workers were immediately admitted to Samut Sakhon and Mahachai hospitals, where three others were pronounced dead after arrival Monday night.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/eight-myanmar-migrant-workers-die-in-road-mishap


-- Thai PBS 2015-04-28

[BSJ]

20 in the back of a pick-up! I thought the police were doing something about this after the last workers in PU disaster.

[NongKhaiKid]

One dictionary definition of mishap is " an unfortunate accident. "

Death and injury goes well beyond ' unfortunate ' and doesn't cover idiots behind the wheel or the ever convenient ' brake failure ' or ' rain made the road slippery '.

Reality helps to change things even if ever so slightly but isn't really applicable here. Multiple deaths a ' mishap ' ?

Why not say if they hadn't been there they would still be alive ?

[NongKhaiKid]

20 in the back of a pick-up! I thought the police were doing something about this after the last workers in PU disaster.

Ah Yes, another crackdown that lasted, tick tick well that's that over then.

[Pattaya28]

Were these workers squashed into the back of an open pick-up ?

Any sharp movement from the pick-up would send these workers flying in all directions.

Is this method of transport legal ?

Do the police turn a blind eye ?

This adds to the daily toll of road deaths, life I guess is cheap.

71 road deaths a day, yesterday, today, tomorrow. Never ends.

[Robroona]

Yesterday on Highway 7, whilst heading for the airport, I was overtaken at great speed by a pickup with 6 or 7 workers in the back. I was late and doing over 120, so that vehicle must have been doing 140+ But he was weaving in and out of traffic.

Sometimes over here you just need to wonder

[halloween]

20 in the back of a pick-up! I thought the police were doing something about this after the last workers in PU disaster.

Standing room only.

[apetley]

20 in the back of a pick-up! I thought the police were doing something about this after the last workers in PU disaster.

I'll raise your 20 to the 32 I counted last week stuffed into the back of a pickup last week making it dangerously top heavy. My experience is that the police here in Kanchanaburi at least couldn't care less about workers transported in this way.

[malt25]

Yesterday on Highway 7, whilst heading for the airport, I was overtaken at great speed by a pickup with 6 or 7 workers in the back. I was late and doing over 120, so that vehicle must have been doing 140+ But he was weaving in and out of traffic.

Sometimes over here you just need to wonder

"Sometimes over here you just need to wonder" You only wonder sometimes ? Don't drive much I guess.

[Just1Voice]

Coming from Nakon Sawan, back to Chiang Mai on my CBR. Light traffic, so I'm doing 135 or so. Slowly get overtaken by a pick up with about a dozen people in the back, all dressed like they just came from a wedding or something. As they pass me, the driver smiles and holds up his can of Chang Beer. About 15 kilometers up the road, where they were doing repaving, I saw them again, but had to slow down to 20kph. Truck off the road in a ditch, overturned, bodies laying all over the place. So sad, and so totally unnecessary.

[monkeycountry]

Thai scientists have proven that putting 20+ people in the back of a pickup truck does not affect the trucks driving capabilities, not even when swerving at high speed. It is the same scientists that proved river flow could be increased using boat propellers.

[recycler]

Migrant workers are the lowest of the lowest in Thailand and treated as disposables.

Companies boasting ISO and "Safety First" at the entrance while workers from Myanmar or Cambodia climb the scaffolds on bare foot...

[bangon04]

Thai scientists have proven that putting 20+ people in the back of a pickup truck does not affect the trucks driving capabilities, not even when swerving at high speed. It is the same scientists that proved river flow could be increased using boat propellers.

That would be true if the driver were a Thai, but in this case the driver was only a Burmese, so not the same level of skill....

compare http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/820568-six-workers-hurt-as-phuket-pick-up-crashes-at-speed/?utm_source=newsletter-20150427-1437&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news

Edited April 28, 2015 by bangon04

[LuckyLew]

Seems like we a reading more and more of these

Was there not another one last week?

Add all the ones that are not reported to the media

Thailand has no value for life, it is expendable

The should make parliament members and military brass ride in the back of these trucks and then see how fast the laws get changed and are enforced

[NCC1701A]

when i was in Cambodia I noticed they drove in a very slow, controlled fashion. In Vietnam it was more crazy, but everyone wore helmets and obeyed traffic laws.

What is driving like in Myanmar?

I wonder if they have the same sort of murderous drivers like in Thailand?

I say murderous having been forced deliberately off the road many times by Thai drivers.

I only ask because many more SEA neighbors are going to be driving in Thailand soon. It can be overwhelming to anyone as a first time driver here.

I wonder if the Thai driver who caused this accident even knows he/she has killed so many people?

or if they just went on their murderous way?

[NongKhaiKid]

Coming from Nakon Sawan, back to Chiang Mai on my CBR. Light traffic, so I'm doing 135 or so. Slowly get overtaken by a pick up with about a dozen people in the back, all dressed like they just came from a wedding or something. As they pass me, the driver smiles and holds up his can of Chang Beer. About 15 kilometers up the road, where they were doing repaving, I saw them again, but had to slow down to 20kph. Truck off the road in a ditch, overturned, bodies laying all over the place. So sad, and so totally unnecessary.

Sadly so many of us know exactly what you mean. it's a horrible feeling to be overtaken like that then comes the feeling that you might see them again later in disastrous circumstances.

This is what the media have taken to calling road mishaps.

[webfact]

Nine Myanmar migrants die in Thailand car accident
AFP

BANGKOK: -- At least nine Myanmar migrants working in Thailand's seafood industry were killed and a further 17 injured when their pick-up truck hit a barrier and overturned, police said Tuesday.

Police said 26 workers were crammed into the vehicle after their shift when the accident happened late Monday in the coastal province of Samut Sakhon, 45 kilometres (28 miles) from Bangkok.

"It should not have happened... the pick-up truck had just left the factory and was not travelling far to its destination," Chaiyuth Thomya of Samut Sakhon's Mueang district police told AFP, putting the death toll at nine.

Thailand's roads are among the world's deadliest, with accidents involving buses and trucks packed with migrant workers particularly common.

Samut Sakhon is home to tens of thousands of migrants, many from neighbouring Myanmar, who work in Thailand's embattled fishing and seafood trade.

The kingdom, the world's third-largest seafood producer, is under intense pressure to raise standards in the industry, with the European Union threatening a ban on its exports if it fails to clamp down on illegal fishing.

Thai authorities have vowed to get tough with offenders, saying any export ban to Europe could cost the kingdom around a $1 billion a year.

Rights groups also accuse Thai authorities of failing to protect migrant labourers in the notoriously unregulated fishing industry, which is blighted by accusations of slave labour, low pay and poor conditions.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2015-04-28

[scorecard]

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20 in the back of a pick-up! I thought the police were doing something about this after the last workers in PU disaster.

Ah Yes, another crackdown that lasted, tick tick well that's that over then.

And old habits die hard.

Unfortunately It will take a long time to really effect change and lock new thinking and attitudes into place.

All the more reason to hasten the complete police shake up and to hasten education reform.

It would also help if employers had much better morals and displayed a much healthier attitude to the welfare and safety etc., of their employees.

Increase the penalties for such offences and ensure (through complete police reform and public education) that the law is respected in all situations and at all times.

[KunMatt]

Today's "20 people killed/injured in a single vehicle accident" is brought to you by Samut Sakhon.

I wonder where tomorrow's will be set?

Edited April 28, 2015 by KunMatt

[Broeno]

Coming from Nakon Sawan, back to Chiang Mai on my CBR. Light traffic, so I'm doing 135 or so. Slowly get overtaken by a pick up with about a dozen people in the back, all dressed like they just came from a wedding or something. As they pass me, the driver smiles and holds up his can of Chang Beer. About 15 kilometers up the road, where they were doing repaving, I saw them again, but had to slow down to 20kph. Truck off the road in a ditch, overturned, bodies laying all over the place. So sad, and so totally unnecessary.

The driver already predicted the disaster by holding up his can of Chang.

[Sooo Upto Me]

Makes a change not a crazy drugged up Thai driver.

R.I.P. Burmese Boys. So sad

[bbbbooboo]

The Thai killing fields.....the slaughter continues everyday.RIP

[ToddinChonburi]

OH just a road mishap !!!!! WHAT THE HELL !!!!!!