Bangkok-bound train hits truck, leaving one dead

[halloween]

I vaguely remember my grandfather's older brother, WWI vet, was employed as a railway crossing guard. A bell would ring in his hut, and he would manually close the crossing gates, in a time when trains were far fewer on the Sydney-Newcastle line.

That's a pretty primitive safety system, but if they cant afford auto gates, it might be worth a try. I'm sure there's older rice farmers that would appreciate an increase in income.

Manned gates do not seem to work in Asia. Here is an example.

http://vietnamnews.vn/society/241944/train-collides-with-container-truck.html

Evidently this was a manned gate but the guy supposed to be manning same gate went home to lunch and nap (Asia 2 hours min). I am sure the mentality with Thai drivers would be the same as Vietnamese drivers and that is if the barrier is up then it must be fact that no train is coming and therefore no need to look left or right before crossing - just barrel straight across regardless.

A husband and wife team could probably muster the competence to handle the job. But they would probably have to be armed, with authorisation to shoot those who feel that the rules don't apply to them and want to force their way through.

[kannot]

But … but ... the truck driver flashed his lights!

Ahhhhhh but the train was BIGGER

[masuk]

Safety in any shape or form in Thailand just does not exist....

well, they have safety boots...err sandals....sorry...thongs/flip-flops

So much for planning/thinking ahead: I once worked at an Asian university where all but one door to the main lecture theatre was chained closed. The remaining door was then locked buy the lecturer, "to prevent late students from attending the lecture."

I asked the head of the University if he had really good personal liability insurance, and advised him that he would probably be sued to kingdom come if there was an emergency and students trapped inside.

He did some rapid forward planning and banned that particular practice.

[kannot]

How many of us have stopped at a railway crossing to verify before crossing, only to have a jerk behind us sit on his horn and then tailgate us for a few kms because we dared to behave in a prudent manner?

I dont care about my pick up now its a few years old, if they try that with me Ill slam the brakes on and then claim a dog ran out in front of me ..

[ratcatcher]

The car ran into the train. Stupid drivers do not want to wait.

Don't be silly Tony, the train crashed (ran) into the truck (car).

Why? Because the train was on the tracks where it should have been at that moment and the truck was on the tracks where it should NOT have been at that moment.

The truck driver's fault 100%.

Anyone with half a brain should know to stop, look and listen at an unprotected railway crossing.

Too bad the passenger dies and not the driver.

[Dublin]

Said it before and ill say it again ,,,, thailand is not ready for high speed trains when the safety record with the slow trains is so bad...

[Jimlove]

Safety in any shape or form in Thailand just does not exist....

Agree ... Safety and Thailand in same sentence is a Non Starter. Its all about me me me and demanding first right to driving - hope the truck-driver will not kill anybody in the future since he is obviously not right in the head

[halloween]

Safety in any shape or form in Thailand just does not exist....

Agree ... Safety and Thailand in same sentence is a Non Starter. Its all about me me me and demanding first right to driving - hope the truck-driver will not kill anybody in the future since he is obviously not right in the head

I believe he is not right in quite a few places at the moment, judging by how his pickup looks.

[ratcatcher]

Safety in any shape or form in Thailand just does not exist....

Agree ... Safety and Thailand in same sentence is a Non Starter. Its all about me me me and demanding first right to driving - hope the truck-driver will not kill anybody in the future since he is obviously not right in the head

Read the list on this link and see who had the most grade crossing accidents and realize what a narrow minded statement you made. .

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

Thailand is no more guilty of lack of safety enforcement than any other developing country.

Australia, the United States and Canada are contenders for the highest number of reported grade crossing accidents..

[Sviss Geez]

How many of us have stopped at a railway crossing to verify before crossing, only to have a jerk behind us sit on his horn and then tailgate us for a few kms because we dared to behave in a prudent manner?

Don't know. How many?

[Sviss Geez]

I vaguely remember my grandfather's older brother, WWI vet, was employed as a railway crossing guard. A bell would ring in his hut, and he would manually close the crossing gates, in a time when trains were far fewer on the Sydney-Newcastle line.

That's a pretty primitive safety system, but if they cant afford auto gates, it might be worth a try. I'm sure there's older rice farmers that would appreciate an increase in income.

This is a great idea. Positive all round. The young men could have been really drunk, stoned and had the ghetto blasting sub woofers on at high power.

We do tend to be stupid at an early age, but we shouldn't have to die unecessarily.

Guards at these crossings would be a great way to get a bit more safety, especially at crossings where trains are going quickly.

"The young men could have been really drunk, stoned and had the ghetto blasting sub woofers on at high power."

But, on the other hand, they probably weren't.

"We do tend to be stupid..."

Don't we just?

[nemrut]

Safety in any shape or form in Thailand just does not exist....

Agree ... Safety and Thailand in same sentence is a Non Starter. Its all about me me me and demanding first right to driving - hope the truck-driver will not kill anybody in the future since he is obviously not right in the head

Read the list on this link and see who had the most grade crossing accidents and realize what a narrow minded statement you made. .

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

Thailand is no more guilty of lack of safety enforcement than any other developing country.

Australia, the United States and Canada are contenders for the highest number of reported grade crossing accidents..

Which is why high-speed rail would never work in the US - the malignant few(of which there are many in US) spoil it for the rest.

[ratcatcher]

How many of us have stopped at a railway crossing to verify before crossing, only to have a jerk behind us sit on his horn and then tailgate us for a few kms because we dared to behave in a prudent manner?

Don't know. How many?

I think gk would call that a rhetorical question.

How about you?

[Sviss Geez]

How many of us have stopped at a railway crossing to verify before crossing, only to have a jerk behind us sit on his horn and then tailgate us for a few kms because we dared to behave in a prudent manner?

I dont care about my pick up now its a few years old, if they try that with me Ill slam the brakes on and then claim a dog ran out in front of me ..

Why would you do that? What if there were children in the vehicle behind you that you deliberately caused to run into your old heap? What you are saying that you would do is even more dangerous than tailgating.

Although admitting that you are a danger on the road, and a liar (the dog part), has to go in your favour, so you're not all bad.

[Sviss Geez]

How many of us have stopped at a railway crossing to verify before crossing, only to have a jerk behind us sit on his horn and then tailgate us for a few kms because we dared to behave in a prudent manner?

Don't know. How many?

I think gk would call that a rhetorical question.

How about you?

Depends on the intonation and interpretation by the listener/reader, don't you think?

"How about you?"

Was that rhetorical, or did you want a response?

[ratcatcher]

How many of us have stopped at a railway crossing to verify before crossing, only to have a jerk behind us sit on his horn and then tailgate us for a few kms because we dared to behave in a prudent manner?

Don't know. How many?

I think gk would call that a rhetorical question.

How about you?

Depends on the intonation and interpretation by the listener/reader, don't you think?

"How about you?"

Was that rhetorical, or did you want a response?

I have already read your response, thanks.

[halloween]

Read the list on this link and see who had the most grade crossing accidents and realize what a narrow minded statement you made. .

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

Thailand is no more guilty of lack of safety enforcement than any other developing country.

Australia, the United States and Canada are contenders for the highest number of reported grade crossing accidents..

There was a classic near where I lived in the Hunter valley. A 3 loco empty coal train was stopped waiting for a signal just before an non-alarmed crossing. A car came over the hill, saw the stopped train, and hit close to 200km/h trying to get across before the train started moving. Train driver got his green, and oblivious to car, starts off. He's hardly moving, but has only got to go 10m and the crossing is completely blocked. Train 1, car 0.

[dotpoom]

there is another topic running here where a member asked "are trains safe in Thailand".

I guess facts speak for themselves....... no need to comment further..... let me hop on a plane (except Orient Thai) to get to a domestic destination at any given minute

It is not a safety issue with train on this occasion. Not much sympathy here for the loss of life and injuries incurred. How easily as forget our own stupid antics when we were 22 yrs. old. My prayers go out to both families.

[northernphil]

" The collusion broke the truck into 2 pieces " I came to the same contusion. Sorry I must confess I am too getting into a confusion now.

[ratcatcher]

there is another topic running here where a member asked "are trains safe in Thailand".

I guess facts speak for themselves....... no need to comment further..... let me hop on a plane (except Orient Thai) to get to a domestic destination at any given minute

It is not a safety issue with train on this occasion. Not much sympathy here for the loss of life and injuries incurred. How easily as forget our own stupid antics when we were 22 yrs. old. My prayers go out to both families.

While you are busy praying for the families of the dead passenger and the at fault, injured driver, see if you can say a word or two for the poor bloody train driver who had to witness this whole sorry scenario in front of him.

I expect he will be off work for a couple of days due to stress..

[akampa]

the driver of the truck didnt stop and escalated his truck to pass the tracks.

"Escalated his truck"?

Must have been fitted with anti gravity.

As the truck came into the middle of the tracks, it was the time when the train arrived.

Amazing deduction!

"Journalism" I guess it's one of the "prohibited jobs" for foreigners.

what genius wrote this piece

[JAG]

Safety in any shape or form in Thailand just does not exist....

Agree ... Safety and Thailand in same sentence is a Non Starter. Its all about me me me and demanding first right to driving - hope the truck-driver will not kill anybody in the future since he is obviously not right in the head

Read the list on this link and see who had the most grade crossing accidents and realize what a narrow minded statement you made. .

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

Thailand is no more guilty of lack of safety enforcement than any other developing country.

Australia, the United States and Canada are contenders for the highest number of reported grade crossing accidents..

People do take the most stupid risks at level crossings. I used to be involved with a private " preserved" railway in the UK, amongst other things I used to drive DMUs (railcars). We had several crossings with bells and flashing red lights, and idiots driving in front of trains was a regular occurrence.

The most lunatic act I experienced was some buffoon abseiling off a road overbridge. Luckily I saw him a couple of hundred yards off, put the brake in hard and managed to stop. I've never seen anyone climb a rope so quickly!

When I leaned from the cab, and asked him, somewhat pointedly what he thought he was doing, he said he had thought the railway (shiny rails and weed free ballast) was disused!

[z42]

Disgusting recklessness from the pickup driver. Som nam na

[dao16]

I go over an unmanned crossing several times a day on average....all you have to do is look both ways down the track. That said, I have seen drivers here just get right up on the track with bumper-to-bumper traffic and no way to get out if a train comes. Up to them, I guess.

[Maggusoil]

I vaguely remember my grandfather's older brother, WWI vet, was employed as a railway crossing guard. A bell would ring in his hut, and he would manually close the crossing gates, in a time when trains were far fewer on the Sydney-Newcastle line.

That's a pretty primitive safety system, but if they cant afford auto gates, it might be worth a try. I'm sure there's older rice farmers that would appreciate an increase in income.

This is a great idea. Positive all round. The young men could have been really drunk, stoned and had the ghetto blasting sub woofers on at high power.

We do tend to be stupid at an early age, but we shouldn't have to die unecessarily.

Guards at these crossings would be a great way to get a bit more safety, especially at crossings where trains are going quickly.

"The young men could have been really drunk, stoned and had the ghetto blasting sub woofers on at high power."

But, on the other hand, they probably weren't.

"We do tend to be stupid..."

Don't we just?

Why probably? Stupid is as stupid does. Anyway the cause is relatively irrelevant, when posters like Halloween come up with a good idea to combat or compensate for stupidity or just plain old bad signage.

When the generally accepted way to indicate a road hazzard up our way are, a couple, or no, one small branch of a bush place on the road. There needs to be more attention paid to road hazards.

Back in Australia, one would have dozens of flashing lights at least half a kilometer ahead with a large flashing TRAFFIC HAZZARD SIGN and fifteen traffice wardens organizing the traffic. You realize you have gone too far. A modest showing of improvement is definitely needed here.

[cardinalblue]

Will driver be charged with criminal negligence? reckless driving? vehicular involuntary manslaughter?

Some serious charge be levied as an authority statement for others to learn by example....

[Keesters]

It's one thing when idiot drivers kill themselves. That's just Darwin's law in operation.

But it's a totally different thing when, as in this case or many others, the idiot drivers survive and it's the innocent passengers, like the one passenger here or all the other senseless van and bus crash passengers, who get killed or injured in the process.

Agree. Driver should be charged with manslaughter or whatever the Thai equivalent is.

RIP the passenger.

[Toknarok]

Whenever I read of a level crossing accident like this I wonder how the average Thai driver would react if he were driving on the roads in the Pilbara Western Australia. There the iron ore trains are several kilometers long and the train can take as long as ten minutes to pass through the level crossing. Imagine making a Thai driver wait 10 minutes, he'd be tearing his hair out.

[NickJ]

I knew this idiot that got stuck in traffic on a rr crossing. His nephew was killed. A few weeks later he was driving drunk and an old man fell out of the back of his truck and died when he was trying to beat a train. What happens next , he gets elected to a public office.

[northernphil]

Whenever I read of a level crossing accident like this I wonder how the average Thai driver would react if he were driving on the roads in the Pilbara Western Australia. There the iron ore trains are several kilometers long and the train can take as long as ten minutes to pass through the level crossing. Imagine making a Thai driver wait 10 minutes, he'd be tearing his hair out.

This is more just for you Toknarok. In 1971 I was working for Australian Aerial Mapping and surveying along the Hammersley Iron railway from Mt Tom Price and there were no gates , if you stopped a train for any reason the fine was horrendous , time for smoko , no rush. 1.5 mile long train at 10mph.