Five killed when a van crashed into a ten-wheel truck in Korat

[webfact]

Five killed when a van crashed into a ten-wheel truck in Korat



KORAT: -- A van driver and four passengers were killed and six other passengers were injured when a van crashed into the rear of a ten-wheel truck on the highway in Soong Noen district of Nakhon Ratchasima on Thursday.

The four dead victims and the rest of the passengers who were injured are nurses and officials of Humantas company on their way from Bangkok to conduct health examinations for employees in the industrial estate in Nakhon Ratchasima.

Police said that it was raining and misty at the time of the accident and the driver appeared to have driven the van in high speed, did not see the truck travelling in front of him and, therefore, rammed into its rear forcefully.

The impact of the collision crushed the driver and four passengers to death. The rest of the passengers were injured, including one who was seriously injured. The injured were rushed to Maharaj Nakhon Ratchasima hospital for medical treatment.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/five-killed-when-a-van-crashed-into-a-ten-wheel-truck-in-korat

-- Thai PBS 2015-10-09

[robertthebruce]

so so sad, and what a waste of life , all because of poor driving skills...

innocent lives, lost....

Driver died, so thats one less idiot on the road, now how many Millons to go..

honestly i wish the Goverment would do something about road safety..

like i said, 'SAD''..

[Jessi]

More carnage on Thailand roads by these van drivers, they dive like maniacs.

RiP to the passengers that lost there lives.

[PaPiPuPePo]

Nurses and health-care workers, killed by another one of these freaking van drivers. Something really must be done about them.

I've only taken one in years because at Ekkamai I was railroaded into one--"no buses, no buses, minivan, minivan!." Within 45 minutes he'd given me a case of pretty serious whiplash which took weeks to recover from (won't bore with details). They're a menace to society, simple. Require extra training and commercial licences for all operators, steep fines for the inevitable non-compliance.

In theory, at least, that would work. But TIT.

[deckape]

Not surprised at all. Those vans are driven at insane speeds RIP passengers. Hope the driver is a gecko in the next life.

[leeneeds]

It beggars belief that the consectutive governments do nothing as far as road education on the T V , so many bad skills can be high lighted by an on line campaign, showing how to do correctly moving, indicating ,merging going around a corner in the same lane you started in, ETC, small clips , a small price to pay to save innocent lives , who are at the mercy of unskilled , unknowing consequences from actions while driving.

Sadly some more carnage costing the community dearly,

RIP.

[ChrisY1]

The typical result from undertaking at speed........it's not just the van drivers, but 90% of Thai drivers insist on passing on the left.......plus the fact that I'm sure half of them must be blind!

[godden]

I have a lot of sympathy for the passengers but none for the driver.

[oneday]

Passengers, Thai or falang, need to start speaking up together and demanding that their drivers slow down. Some of them will.

On a tour van once with all falang, including myself and GF, that happened and the driver slowed down. However, I know many of these drivers will ignore the passengers and do whatever they want. Complaints to central offices do no good at all. None of them are ever fired.

[espinoza]

I guess if the truck driver had the lights on the van driver would see him before it was to late, but Thailand forbid the use of lights if its not completely dark outside (if you can see a car at more than 150 meters the lights shall be shut off). Special Thai rules, a part of thainess.

[craigt3365]

Passengers, Thai or falang, need to start speaking up together and demanding that their drivers slow down. Some of them will.

On a tour van once with all falang, including myself and GF, that happened and the driver slowed down. However, I know many of these drivers will ignore the passengers and do whatever they want. Complaints to central offices do no good at all. None of them are ever fired.

Exactly. I rarely travel in a van any more, but when I do, if they are speeding or driving recklessly, I'm not shy about telling them to slow down. Now, with video on your phone, easy to capture what's going on.

As for firing, we complained about a school bus van driver a few years ago. He was fired for reckless driving.

[Thian]

I hope the General shows his power and stops this ASAP. Those minivan drivers have no respect for anybody.

[jimstar1]

RIP People These Van drivers a crazy same as the bus drivers

I Remember a while back and others will also remember a posted put

Imagine a Sardine tin unopened put on road hit with Sledge hammer then look at it This is what these vans are like in a high speed accident Again RIP

[Oziex1]

I hope the General shows his power and stops this ASAP. Those minivan drivers have no respect for anybody.

The General/PM has shown no power on any pressing issue, and clearly has no interest in doing so.

[ratcatcher]

The typical result from undertaking at speed........it's not just the van drivers, but 90% of Thai drivers insist on passing on the left.......plus the fact that I'm sure half of them must be blind!

"The typical result from undertaking at speed.."

Sorry Chris, but where did it say he overtook on the left hand side. It really seems, from the report, that he rammed into the back of the truck. which was driving ahead of him.

I agree, many van drivers drive recklessly, speed and pass on the nearside of slower moving vehicles.

The only undertaking will be from the morgue to the Wat for the dead victims, driver among them.

Another tragic loss of innocent lives all due to not driving according to the weather conditions.

Edit to add.

Another report by the paper which cannot be quoted, states that indeed the truck was parked on the side of the road.

In which case, to hit the rear of a parked truck on the side of the road, would indicate the van driver was trying to pass a vehicle traveling in the 'slow lane'.

My apology to ChrisY1.

conflicting reports.

Edited October 9, 2015 by ratcatcher

[trogers]

The motto of Thai minivan drivers:

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

Perhaps they should be made to deliver mail in Alaska for 3 years before given a permit to drive a minivan here.

If they should still be alive...

Edited October 9, 2015 by trogers

[robblok]

People who talk about speaking up, I agree but many Thais really don't care and want to be fast at their destination.

Also those van drivers make more money when they go fast (more rides).

It will be real hard to get them to slow down. A previous government wanted to put in GPS trackers in those vans. Sadly this was one of their good idea's but it never happened. I think the only way is more policing laser-guns and such (yes I know nobody likes it) But without more enforcement people wont change.

Its not that people in the West are better drivers, there is just far more effective policing and without it people would drive a lot worse.

[trainman34014]

My wife was a Nurse for 25 years and often had to ride in Minibuses and Ambulances to one place or another with other medical staff. She said they were constantly telling the drivers to slow down because they almost always drove like manic idiots. Many of the drivers just laughed and carried on driving like idiots anyway. Even complaints to Management made no difference whatsoever.

[espinoza]

People who talk about speaking up, I agree but many Thais really don't care and want to be fast at their destination.

Also those van drivers make more money when they go fast (more rides).

It will be real hard to get them to slow down. A previous government wanted to put in GPS trackers in those vans. Sadly this was one of their good idea's but it never happened. I think the only way is more policing laser-guns and such (yes I know nobody likes it) But without more enforcement people wont change.

Its not that people in the West are better drivers, there is just far more effective policing and without it people would drive a lot worse.

Drivers in western countries are MUCH better drivers, but I`m convinced that is because they have to do driving schools before they are let out in the traffic.

[Honkeydog]

I try to avoid vans at all cost if possible because they are all the same. Government need to put govenors on vans so they can not "speed" and get better drivers!

If the drivers have a death wish I wish him well I am just not willing to go with him.

[duckmandon]

My brother in law drive a van for a living. He manly picks up staff before work & drops them off after work. I have driven with him & he drives reasonably well & to the conditions. He was telling me he has to go & do driving test every year & renew his licence. Are these idiots who drive vans bypassing the system by not doing this. I think all drivers in charge of public or company transportation should be tested again. This means truck, bus, taxi, van or any hire vehicles. If they are found not to have correct licencing ban them from driving completely. Get these <deleted> idiots off the roads.

[SOTIRIOS]

...sorry to say but...one of the first things I read in the newspaper when I came to Thailand was:

..'Average I.Q. of Thai students is 89'.....

...that explains a lot...but does not excuse it...

[robblok]

People who talk about speaking up, I agree but many Thais really don't care and want to be fast at their destination.

Also those van drivers make more money when they go fast (more rides).

It will be real hard to get them to slow down. A previous government wanted to put in GPS trackers in those vans. Sadly this was one of their good idea's but it never happened. I think the only way is more policing laser-guns and such (yes I know nobody likes it) But without more enforcement people wont change.

Its not that people in the West are better drivers, there is just far more effective policing and without it people would drive a lot worse.

Drivers in western countries are MUCH better drivers, but I`m convinced that is because they have to do driving schools before they are let out in the traffic.

I don't agree after having seen many TV shows where they catch speeders and other idiot drivers. They often say they would do it more if there was no enforcement. They like driving hard, what keeps them in check is not their better driving ethic but the police doing effective policing.

You can even loose your license and stuff, that keeps you in line here people just drive how others drive and know they wont get caught by the police and if they do its a low fine. Without effective policing in the West people would drive a lot worse.

[Nice Boyd]

I hope the General shows his power and stops this ASAP. Those minivan drivers have no respect for anybody.

How about Cement trucks and 10 wheelers, and Busses in Pattaya, Absolute Maniac ' s, they should have governers on the engines, and let's not even talk about their U Turn Behaviour...Disgrace

[emilymat]

Terrible carnage. I don't know who to blame and doubt we'll ever find out.

What I do know is that about 4 years ago I was driving up from Korat to Khon Kaen in the late evening, keeping left and it was raining. Only doing about 70/80 km. Suddenly, out of the blue a huge truck loomed up in front of me out of the gloom. It was loaded with sugar cane but......it had zero back lights. I was well able to avoid it but I resoved never to drive in Thailand at night again - unless it was an emergency.

Now, on those very rare occasions I am going up to the north-east I do Pattaya/Khon Kaen in daylight (hotel) then the remainder the next morning.

Obviously, in this case, the van driver may well be the culprit and it's such a sad waste of life for those medics.

[speedtripler]

People who talk about speaking up, I agree but many Thais really don't care and want to be fast at their destination.

Also those van drivers make more money when they go fast (more rides).

It will be real hard to get them to slow down. A previous government wanted to put in GPS trackers in those vans. Sadly this was one of their good idea's but it never happened. I think the only way is more policing laser-guns and such (yes I know nobody likes it) But without more enforcement people wont change.

Its not that people in the West are better drivers, there is just far more effective policing and without it people would drive a lot worse.

At a junction yesterday at least half the waiting motorbikes decided to skip a red light and go through dangerous oncoming traffic to save waiting a few seconds

And this wasnt middle of the night in a village in esaan, it was in the centre of bkk in rush hour ... There was police in a box .... There was cctv as well

In theory the police could have came out of the box and stopped at least some but probably watching some TV show or posting on Facebook...

If the cctv prosecution worked, we should all get a fine in the post in the next few days but everyone knows it doesn't and I drive around 100km a day around bkk so I see this almost every intersection and if there's a gap I also like a good shortcut as much as the next man

Until the mindset changes, nothing else will

[DennisF]

I guess if the truck driver had the lights on the van driver would see him before it was to late, but Thailand forbid the use of lights if its not completely dark outside (if you can see a car at more than 150 meters the lights shall be shut off). Special Thai rules, a part of thainess.

And you know the truck had no lights?

How exactly?

You were there?

[DennisF]

I hope the General shows his power and stops this ASAP. Those minivan drivers have no respect for anybody.

The General/PM has shown no power on any pressing issue, and clearly has no interest in doing so.

Thats unfair, the lottery tickets are down in price.. allegedly

[Bangkok Barry]

There is a very simple reason that successive governments do absolutely nothing to improve driver skills. Politicians are driven around by drivers who have shown they at least are competent enough to drive VIPs, so they don't care about how others drive, The only thing that will change it is if one of the VIPs is killed by a maniac driver. Fair chance of that happening I suppose.

[hakuho]

If you can't change behavior, then change the system...that would be accomplished by establishing a country-wide mandate to require the installation of speed governors on commercial vehicles.

Also, start to ticket vehicles not displaying rear lights...Thailand is the number two nation in traffic deaths...guess who is number one?...right, that country where 70% of citizens defecate in the open; thankfully Thais are not into that...pass the curry, please.

[source: W.H.O. statistics]