Eight killed, 28 injured in Kanchanaburi road accident

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Eight killed, 28 injured in Kanchanaburi road accident

KANCHANABURI:-- A chartered bus fell from the road at a notorious sharp curve in Kanchanaburi's Si Sawat district Sunday, killing eight people and injuring 28 others, police said.

Police said the accident happened at 10:30 am at the Khao Tabtao or kilometre markers 59-60 on the main highway in Moo 4 village of Tambon Tha Kradan in Si Sawat district.

The curve was notorious for accidents and it is called the 100-bodies curve.

Police and rescuers rushed to the scene and found one body thrown out of the bus and seven more bodies inside. Rescuers took out the 28 injured people of the bus and rushed them to the Tha Kradan hospital. Police said 22 of the survivors were severely injured.

All of the injured were later forwarded to the Phahol Polphayuhasena Hospital.

The bus was chartered to take staffs of a firm in Samut Sakhon to join a seminar at a resort in Tambon Tha Tradan and the accident happened when the staffs were returning to Samut Sakhon, police said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Eight-killed-28-injured-in-Kanchanaburi-road-accid-30271547.html

-- The Nation 2015-10-25

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Eight killed in coach accident in Kanchanaburi



KANCHANABURI:-- The driver of a double-decker tour coach and seven other tourists were killed when the vehicle crashed into granite wall of a mountain and turned one side up as it was negotiating downhill of a mountainous route in Kanchanaburi’s Sisawat district on Sunday morning.

About 20 other tourists in the coach were also injured, some of them in serious condition. Rescue workers had to use tools to free some of them trapped inside.

Police said that the driver was crushed to death behind the steering wheel and the front side of the coach was smashed.

The tour coach was carrying about 40 tourists on their return trip to Bangkok after they spent their long weekend at rafts in Srinagarind dam. As the driver was trying to negotiate a sharp curve at Tabtao mountain, he apparently lost control and smashed head-on to the mountain face and the coach turned one side up.

Police said that the curve has been prone to accidents and motorists have been warned to exercise special caution and yet there are still accidents.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/eight-killed-in-coach-accident-in-kanchanaburi

-- Thai PBS 2015-10-25

[Gonzo the Face]

To those who lost a love one, condolences to you and may the departed RIP. To those who are injured may they have a full, complete and speedy recovery.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Gonzo the Face

[ratcatcher]

Condolences, R.I.Ps, blame, statistics, opinions, judgements etc etc. Just another long weekend in Thailand. Sadly France recently also suffered losses in a bus crash.

[ClutchClark]

Terrible senseless tragedy.

[Seastallion]

"..... motorists have been warned to exercise special caution and yet there are still accidents."

Is anyone surprised at this? Warnings, cautions, signs, flashing lights, men waving flags, sirens, mean nothing when a driver thinks he has chok dee from his talisman. He's bullet-proof.

<deleted>, the corner has been labelled the corner of 100 bodies! And still there is nothing in place to slow drivers down.

I don't know why three letters are censored. I'll try again.

Fer <deleted> sake.

[jackinthebox]

Now the 108-bodies curve... RIP.

Respective speed limits for cars, buses and trucks may could help to prevent these accidents. And of course drivers who respekt the speed limits and don't exceed more than 15 kph...

[clockman]

Was the bus, one of those death trap too high, cheap made accident waiting to happen buses?

[jacky54]

Strange how even though it's the 2nd worst country in the world for this sort of senseless death no government ever seems to do anything about it, and the solutions are all obvious.

I An actual driving test instead of the farce in place now

2 Police enforcing the highway code

3 Confiscation of any vehicle being driven dangerously, without insurance or where the driver is drunk

4 Proper vehicle tests yearly like the MOT to keep death traps off the roads

oh and the use of seatbelts might be a good idea, you know those stupid foreign devices

Edited October 25, 2015 by jacky54

[zaphod reborn]

How about making the road safer? Infrastructure investment is a good way of pumping money into the economy. However, I doubt after all the deaths at this dangerous stretch of road, anyone thought about improving the highway to make it safer. A high accident rate is proof the road is dangerous, despite all the driver and vehicle factors mentioned by others.

[AndyCherry]

I live near this bend. By the way the bus was heading it is a 100 degree bend on a downhill section. It is well signposted in Thai and English with a 30 KPH Speed limit. A pickup crashed at the same spot 2 weeks ago killing 2. Most common cause of crashes here is brake failure as the bend is near the bottom of a 3 Km downhill section. They shouldn't allow double deck tour buses on this section. RIP those that lost their lives due to an inexperienced driver. Driver was one of the deceased.

[phuketruski]

i would be nice to see news in thailand "bus arrives at destination safely"

[ratcatcher]

i would be nice to see news in thailand "bus arrives at destination safely"

The interesting thing is that probably 99% of them do. It's not newsworthy. But the 1% that crash make us all pay attention.

Bad news is what sells. Good news is just not that popular unless people are stuck in the mud, so to speak.

[Artisi]

How about making the road safer? Infrastructure investment is a good way of pumping money into the economy. However, I doubt after all the deaths at this dangerous stretch of road, anyone thought about improving the highway to make it safer. A high accident rate is proof the road is dangerous, despite all the driver and vehicle factors mentioned by others.

If driver education and common sense was instilled into drivers, the accident rate would diminish - always easy to blame the roads which in some cases is fair comment but this doesn't account for stupidity behind the wheel. Many countries have roads thru' dangerous mountain areas and their accident rate doesn't approach that of Thailand.

Of course the usual cry is brake-failure, never driving too fast/ in the wrong gear for the conditions, inexperience, or other preventable reason.

[Artisi]

I live near this bend. By the way the bus was heading it is a 100 degree bend on a downhill section. It is well signposted in Thai and English with a 30 KPH Speed limit. A pickup crashed at the same spot 2 weeks ago killing 2. Most common cause of crashes here is brake failure as the bend is near the bottom of a 3 Km downhill section. They shouldn't allow double deck tour buses on this section. RIP those that lost their lives due to an inexperienced driver. Driver was one of the deceased.

Well that driver has been removed from the gene pool- pity he had to take others with him.

[Pattaya28]

""Police said that the curve has been prone to accidents and motorists have been warned to exercise special caution and yet there are still accidents""

Well that's a surprise !!

""All of the injured were later forwarded to the Phahol Polphayuhasena Hospital""

Forwarded, just like an email.

[Thongkorn]

Maybe the Bend/curve should be designed out, if there are numerous accidents,

[jayceebee]

Bit of shock to see this, just done the same route 24 hours earlier from Kan to Bangkok in one of those Toyota mini buses and was absolutely terrified by the speed, overtaking/undertaking and behaviour at junctions of the driver. The other passengers didn't seem to be concerned though.

RIP to those poor souls who didn't make it and wish a full recovery to the injured.

Edited October 25, 2015 by jayceebee

[rhythmworx]

They should take the speed signs down as they are not understood by Thai people and are just a distraction to their concentration as they probably write them down for the lottery.

A huge steel RSJ type barrier should be put there that requires the driver to get out to enter a pin number before it opens and then closes again once he has passed through.

[gk10002000]

Strange how even though it's the 2nd worst country in the world for this sort of senseless death no government ever seems to do anything about it, and the solutions are all obvious.

I An actual driving test instead of the farce in place now

2 Police enforcing the highway code

3 Confiscation of any vehicle being driven dangerously, without insurance or where the driver is drunk

4 Proper vehicle tests yearly like the MOT to keep death traps off the roads

oh and the use of seatbelts might be a good idea, you know those stupid foreign devices

Sadly, cars and buses and trucks in rural Thailand don't fit the Thai village mentality. Most grew up in quieter areas and didn't have to look around or watch for vehicles, or stay in lanes, etc. It is like giving a loaded gun to a monkey.

[webfact]

Eight dead in Kanchanaburi tourist bus crash
THE NATION



KANCHANABURI: -- EIGHT people died and 22 others were seriously injured in a tourist bus crash at a notorious black spot in Kanchanaburi's Si Sawat district yesterday.

Pol Lieutenant Anusorn Sudtho, an investigator at Si Sawat Police Station, said the accident occurred near Khao Tubtao.

Police and rescue teams transported the injured to Tha Kradan Hospital, Anusorn said.

The officer said the bus was off its wheels and seriously damaged.

Many passengers were trapped inside the bus when rescue teams arrived and some were dead.

The bus crashed when returning to the W&H Film Company's Samut Sakhon office after the conclusion of a seminar at a nearby resort.

Si Sawat sheriff Seree Khongyue said there were 36 passengers on the bus including the driver.

The eight who died were killed instantly, while six passenger had suffered minor injuries, Seree said.

The injured passengers were |later shifted to the larger Paholpolpayuhasena Hospital in Kanchanaburi's Muang district.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Eight-dead-in-Kanchanaburi-tourist-bus-crash-30271591.html


-- The Nation 2015-10-26

[jpb1963]

How about making the road safer? Infrastructure investment is a good way of pumping money into the economy. However, I doubt after all the deaths at this dangerous stretch of road, anyone thought about improving the highway to make it safer. A high accident rate is proof the road is dangerous, despite all the driver and vehicle factors mentioned by others.

If driver education and common sense was instilled into drivers, the accident rate would diminish - always easy to blame the roads which in some cases is fair comment but this doesn't account for stupidity behind the wheel. Many countries have roads thru' dangerous mountain areas and their accident rate doesn't approach that of Thailand.

Of course the usual cry is brake-failure, never driving too fast/ in the wrong gear for the conditions, inexperience, or other preventable reason.

its not brake failure when they are cooked from over use/over speed which is a direct consequence of incorrect gear selection - like most they seem hell bent o n getting somewhere as quickly as possible.

same as the overtaking on blind corners - i see this every time i travel through mountainous areas it is completely unfathomable.

[Seastallion]

Now the 108-bodies curve... RIP.

Respective speed limits for cars, buses and trucks may could help to prevent these accidents. And of course drivers who respekt the speed limits and don't exceed more than 15 kph...

There's a bit of Thai attitude there in that you say the speed limit is not the actual limit, but can be exceeded by an arbitrary amount. You say 15, Somchai might say 20...oh, what the hell, what's another 5, lets make it 25.......

Speed limits are not arbitrary. Key word: LIMIT.

You are right that there should be different limits for different vehicles.

[cumgranosalum]

Given that drivers are prone to human error - whatever te country, isn't it about time that the authorities re-engineered a piece of road with the name "100 bodies curve"?? - e.g. check the camber....barriers and of course re-think the design of these "home-made" buses.

Edited October 26, 2015 by cumgranosalum

[Mr Freeze]

Why do we keep labeling these incidents as Accidents , surely we should be calling them

"inevitables "

[Artisi]

How about making the road safer? Infrastructure investment is a good way of pumping money into the economy. However, I doubt after all the deaths at this dangerous stretch of road, anyone thought about improving the highway to make it safer. A high accident rate is proof the road is dangerous, despite all the driver and vehicle factors mentioned by others.

If driver education and common sense was instilled into drivers, the accident rate would diminish - always easy to blame the roads which in some cases is fair comment but this doesn't account for stupidity behind the wheel. Many countries have roads thru' dangerous mountain areas and their accident rate doesn't approach that of Thailand.

Of course the usual cry is brake-failure, never driving too fast/ in the wrong gear for the conditions, inexperience, or other preventable reason.

its not brake failure when they are cooked from over use/over speed which is a direct consequence of incorrect gear selection - like most they seem hell bent o n getting somewhere as quickly as possible.

same as the overtaking on blind corners - i see this every time i travel through mountainous areas it is completely unfathomable.

Correct, overheated brakes is not brake failure, it is brain failure.

[cumgranosalum]

Given that drivers are prone to human error - whatever te country, isn't it about time that the authorities re-engineered a piece of road with the name "100 bodies curve"?? - e.g. check the camber....barriers and of course re-think the design of these "home-made" buses.

At the same time introduce brain transplants for drivers lacking the necessary equipment.

...and so it starts; people with no knowledge of what actually happened and not a clue about road safety resort to baseless Thai-bashing.

[cumgranosalum]

Why do we keep labeling these incidents as Accidents , surely we should be calling them

"inevitables "

they aren't called "accidents" - that is just the media - they are referred to as incidents or collisions - the is no such thing as an accident and unlike the commonly held belief on this site there is NEVER only a single factor - these "events" are the result of the coming together of several factors.

[abitmiffed]

It took me 4 months of training to get my PCV license in the UK.

Here i believe it's 3 days and a brown envelope.

Death traps in the hands of uneducated people, this is what happens.

Rest in peace.

[exbikey]

Why do we keep labeling these incidents as Accidents , surely we should be calling them

"inevitables "

they aren't called "accidents" - that is just the media - they are referred to as incidents or collisions - the is no such thing as an accident and unlike the commonly held belief on this site there is NEVER only a single factor - these "events" are the result of the coming together of several factors.

"...are the result of the coming together of several factors".

As in 1) inept drivers; 2) badly built/converted or maintained motor vehicles or 3) general attitude as in 'life is cheap, why worry about it'