Briton dies on family road trip in Thailand, 11 injured

[kannot]

Thai drivers go through red lights often. It's so bad, that sometimes when I'm approaching (or starting at) a green light, I have to honk, and proceed cautiously. 1,2,3,4 or more seconds after the light turns red, mai pen rai - if you're Thai you can justify speeding up to go through the intersection - rather than having to stop and wait for a minute or two.

So true...

Just no concept of spacial awareness or other peoples safety...

Both this attitude and a multitude of others are why this is my last year in Thailand... I am becoming jaded by the place...

And they always do any manoeuvres like a tortoise, instead of accelreating passing vehicles or pulling out of junctions they dawdle terribly when usually there would have been plenty of time suddenly there isnt enough

[Happy Grumpy]

11 people in a pick-up driving 12 hours+ through the night.

I mean come on, it happened at 5am after after 11 hours of driving. Are small hotels really that expensive. Thee's simply no way I would get into a vehicle doing something like that.

RIP.

[Happy Grumpy]

one of the most dangerous things about thai roads is night driving when trucks just are almost invisible - on more than one occasion late at night on the way back from Hua Hin I've had to overtake up the inside and a slow truck with zero lights or muddy lenses has almost made me smash in the back of it

Drive wearing motorbike body armour and full face helmet.

Might protect you from the Thai, and their actions.

[Nice Boyd]

The Perfect Country to Start Self Driving Cars, Contact Google, Immediately .

[Jim walker]

Such a sad time for the wife and for the children we all know the risks that we take on the Thai roads every day, the carnage just never ceases I hope that you now RIP Mr Flood and my sincere condolences to family and friends.

[beowolf2012]

RIP. But one of the trucks was in the wrong oncoming lane. Which truck?

RIP. Very sad, as his wife and children will be without a husband and father, respectively.

It will be difficult to determine fault for this accident, although the presumption is that Mrs. Flood is at fault, because she was turning right, and the other truck was proceeding straight ahead. The photos in the source linked article show that this is a broadside collision, not head-on, so no one was in the wrong lane. Mr. Wattana was probably speeding and Mrs. Flood probably violated his right of way, by turning right, when it wasn't safe to do so.

who follow traffic rule here in Thailand?

I will say if all Thai drive same as me no accident will happen. But Thai is stressed and have to drive fast and violate many rules police just stand and look but don't do anything you know change the traffic light in other word traffic jam. I will say if police give out traffic ticket when they also make the school traffic then many things will be much better

Edited August 7, 2015 by beowolf2012

[fish fingers]

Good point about driving at night i.e. not worth the risk. Its quite tempting to avoid the traffic but yes best to get back into town by 10 pm latest

[Anthony5]

Thai drivers go through red lights often. It's so bad, that sometimes when I'm approaching (or starting at) a green light, I have to honk, and proceed cautiously. 1,2,3,4 or more seconds after the light turns red, mai pen rai - if you're Thai you can justify speeding up to go through the intersection - rather than having to stop and wait for a minute or two.

So true...

Just no concept of spacial awareness or other peoples safety...

Both this attitude and a multitude of others are why this is my last year in Thailand... I am becoming jaded by the place...

Me too... Not sure where to go next...

Zimbabwe is nice this time of year. Lots of wildlife, Victoria falls and Bob's your uncle, (Mugabe that is)

Thailand also has lots of wildlife, especially on the roads.

[cumgranosalum]

see all the usual tripe about Thai driverss has emerged.

There is no such thing as an accident. This crash will never be properly investigated and consequently nothing will be learned... Least of all by some of the posters on this thread

[SOTIRIOS]

...11 hours on the road....???

...wonder if the husband was taking a break...and how much experience the wife actually had driving......

...much wiser to park the car,,,but jam-packed with passengers too......???

...sad.....

[Thunder26]

Thai drivers go through red lights often. It's so bad, that sometimes when I'm approaching (or starting at) a green light, I have to honk, and proceed cautiously. 1,2,3,4 or more seconds after the light turns red, mai pen rai - if you're Thai you can justify speeding up to go through the intersection - rather than having to stop and wait for a minute or two.

Yes, you have to be extra careful and give maybe 5 seconds of your green light in busy intersections. You can see it visually and proceed when it is safe.

[johnnycthedog]

Left at 6pm, accident at 5am, I wonder if she had been driving all night without a rest.

A tragic accident.

I would suggest rather than her driving all night they have shared the driving between them. He drove first then changed with his wife during the night when he got tired. Because he was in the passengers seat he was injured and died. It could easily have been her.

And yes Thai drivers run red lights repeatedly. Though not saying it happened in this case.

[rapom]

How can you not see a pick-up? Unless he was driving with no lights, which is always a possibility in Thailand. More likely, after being on the road for 11 hours, she was tired and/or lost concentration. By the way, it is also illegal in Thailand to ride in the back of a pick-up, for obvious reasons. But somehow the police never notice it happening thousands of times a day.

If it's illegal to ride in the back of a pick-up, why do the police transport those arrested, in the back of one?

[stoneyboy]

How can you not see a pick-up? Unless he was driving with no lights, which is always a possibility in Thailand. More likely, after being on the road for 11 hours, she was tired and/or lost concentration. By the way, it is also illegal in Thailand to ride in the back of a pick-up, for obvious reasons. But somehow the police never notice it happening thousands of times a day.

If it's illegal to ride in the back of a pick-up, why do the police transport those arrested, in the back of one?

Same reason they let drunk drivers carry on for nung pan baht,

[redandyellow]

Sad sad but too common - Mr. Flood´s death will not count in horror statistics since he died later ... Nice way to hide that probably more than 100 are killed every day here in Traffick-hell on Earth ...

RIP - hope the injured makes it

So you are cognizant that Thailand does not follow WHO standards - and does not count deaths up to 30 days after the road collision as a road death. Why would they want to tell the truth to the tourists?

Phuket stopped putting out monthly statistics of road deaths and drownings in April 2013 - FACT

You can put a nose ring and a bra on a pig - but it's still a pig - FACT

[redandyellow]

Sad sad but too common - Mr. Flood´s death will not count in horror statistics since he died later ... Nice way to hide that probably more than 100 are killed every day here in Traffick-hell on Earth ...

RIP - hope the injured makes it

So you are cognizant that Thailand does not follow WHO standards - and does not count deaths up to 30 days after the road collision as a road death. Why would they want to tell the truth to the tourists?

Phuket stopped putting out monthly statistics of road deaths and drownings in April 2013 - FACT

You can put a nose ring and a bra on a pig - but it's still a pig - FACT

Phuket stopped putting out monthly statistics of road deaths and drownings in April 2013 - FACT

I stand to be corrected - it was April 2012

[flyingdoc]

R.I.P.

[redandyellow]

RIP. the wife must be so traumatized.

With all due respect - isn't that stating the painfully obvious?

[cumgranosalum]

How can you not see a pick-up? Unless he was driving with no lights, which is always a possibility in Thailand. More likely, after being on the road for 11 hours, she was tired and/or lost concentration. By the way, it is also illegal in Thailand to ride in the back of a pick-up, for obvious reasons. But somehow the police never notice it happening thousands of times a day.

"How can you not see a pick-up?" Probaly thw most ridiculous saying on the thread.

After any collision, the chances are you will find someone staggering around dazed saying "I just didn't see it"..over and over again.

Edited August 7, 2015 by cumgranosalum

[balo]

For me it's out of the question to drive my car between midnight and 6 AM . Thats what we hear about weekly here, the worst accidents happens early in the morning. A combination of tired and drunk drivers, or drivers high on yabaa etc.

If I want to drive a longer distance from Pattaya to Udon Thani I start early in the morning. Never had an accident so far.

[randyoon]

RIP. But one of the trucks was in the wrong oncoming lane. Which truck?

Wattana Sinuan, the driver of the other pick-up truck, said he tried to brake but could not stop in time because Chaliao took the turn without any warning.

[kjhbigv]

Very sad and I hope the others recover soon but I would never drive at night here to many too many idiots driving in the dark.

I have to agree, I have driven/ridden all over Thailand and generally try to drive in the daytime, mainly so you can see what's out there....too many bikes, trucks toddling along highways at ridiculously low speeds that are nearly impossible to see, plus the unguarded/unmarked bits of missing road etc. (Remember that person that fell into a hole because the road was out and died?)

[Deserted]

Very sad news. Definitely better to travel in the day.

[NeverSure]

This is the tragic story of an error of judgement by the driver of the vehicle the deceased was travelling in, and I am seeing it turn into a judgement of Thai driving with comments on running red lights etc. The driver admitted to an error and the other party stated he tried to brake and take evasive action.

You don't need to bash the Thais on this story, there will be more opportunities in other road trauma stories.

If training to be a pilot, you will be taught that almost all "accidents" begin earlier with an error in judgement. Someone made a decision to do something that terminated at the point of impact.

The error could be trying to carry too heavy a load beyond the design limits of the plane. It could be failing to designate a place to stop for fuel, believing/hoping there would be enough. It could be that the pilot didn't get enough sleep. It could have started the night before with drinking. It could have been a lot of things.

I have come to believe that there are few if any pure traffic accidents that couldn't have been avoided by making better decisions earlier.

[puukao]

Thailand is cheaper, beautiful, and good weather from December - February...

But your chances of dying go up exponentially.

Especially at 5 a.m.

Remember, with the positives come the negatives...

i think it IS worth the risk......but we should all think hard about these risks..

[starky]

Thai drivers go through red lights often. It's so bad, that sometimes when I'm approaching (or starting at) a green light, I have to honk, and proceed cautiously. 1,2,3,4 or more seconds after the light turns red, mai pen rai - if you're Thai you can justify speeding up to go through the intersection - rather than having to stop and wait for a minute or two.

So true...

Just no concept of spacial awareness or other peoples safety...

Both this attitude and a multitude of others are why this is my last year in Thailand... I am becoming jaded by the place...

Me too... Not sure where to go next...

Would be interesting to start a special page on TV exclusively for EX expats.

555 awesome then they could Thai bash from a distance like many of the posters who rip on Thailand and don't even live here or visit frequently. TV the hub of miserable disgruntled ex pats

[Postmaster]

Briggsy has it in a nutshell exactly. Non Bua Lamp hu, near Udon Thani to Trat in one leap at night. Just crazy. thai lady driver etc etc

[ALFREDO]

A dozen people 11 from one vehicle and one from the other were injured when two pickup trucks collided in Trats Khao Saming district at around 5 am today, including 50-year-old Paul Flood, who later died of his wounds.

11 in a vehicle designed to carry maximum of 5. Obviously 6 were in the bed of the truck, with no seats, no seat belts and no safety.

I believe,

one of the people sitting behind on the truck bed was the deceased English man,

he should have been the driver instead

(I would never let any women - except some Michelle Mouton type, drive me around)

and they should have driven away early morning and driven in daytime.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mich%C3%A8le_Mouton

[Tomtomtom69]

Dangerous at any time of the day (or night)...

I would never drive long distances at night, especially in unfamilar areas.

Evern during daytime, we take wrong turns and get flustered and confused.

They drove all night and this happened before sunrise. Tired..and a bit disoriented. Also, many drinkers on the road at that time. Start your long distance driving at sunrise..not sunset.

Nighttime is the best time to drive , nice and cooler , no awful sun beating down on your windshield , shining in your eyes and the people in the back of the truck are not in the blistering heat. Far less trafic.

It makes sence to drive in the night and take the ferry in the morning to have the whole day for their holiday.

What a ridiculous comment. Are you Thai?

Come on, modern cars have air-conditioning and you won't even notice the outside heat when driving. Also, have you heard of a sun visor? It's that thing you pull down so the sun doesn't get in your face, but when is that ever a problem anyway? Only for like 20 mins in the morning if driving east or 20 mins in the evening if driving west.

It makes much more sense to start driving early morning then arriving in the evening perhaps somewhere close to the ferry pier, or if you start early enough it might even be possible to arrive in Koh Chang the same day.

People shouldn't really be sitting in the back of a truck, especially not for a 12-hour journey. But even if they do, well they should cover their bodies to avoid sunburn.

[Petmag]

Rip.. you leave a loving family..