Bus carrying Chinese tourists plunges off cliff

[Tywais]

Bus carrying Chinese tourists collided with another vehicle and plunged off a cliff in Chiang Mai

At least 10 people killed after a bus carrying 25 passengers overturned in Chiang Mai, Thailand, local media said.

#UPDATE Death toll from tourist bus accident in Chiang Mai, Thailand, rises to 11, with 13 others injured, reports Thai media

cctvnews

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ACCIDENT
Over a dozen Malaysians killed in bus crash in Chiang Mai
THE NATION


Rescue workers remove dead and injured Malaysian passengers from the wreckage of a tourist bus that crashed on a mountain road in Doi Saket, Chiang Mai yesterday. At least 14 people died and 12 were injured, police said.

CHIANG MAI: -- T least 14 Malaysian tourists were killed and many others injured at 11.30am yesterday when their coach hit a power pole and ran off a mountainous road in Chiang Mai’s Doi Saket district.

Police said the bus was running on national highway No 118 through Ban Pang Fan village between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces in the North when the driver lost control at the 43th kilometre marker.

Of the 21 Malaysian passengers on the bus, 11 died at the scene. Three were pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital and two were in a serious condition as of press time last night.

Besides the Malaysians, the bus operated by Weerapan Tour was carrying three other passengers, a tour guide, a bus conductor and the driver, identified as Somporn Bualuang, 58, police said.

Rescue worker Uthai Pollaharn said the bus was fleeing after colliding with a car in the Danmae Kajan area of Chiang Rai. The driver of the car, Krissana Fongdawirat, was not hurt, so he chased after the bus and alerted police only to find that it had crashed.

When the bus arrived at the area, it hit another car before skidding off the road, rammed the pole and slammed into a big rock and trees.

Bus cut open to get to injured

Police found the bus was severely damaged. Rescue workers used tools and equipment to cut parts of the vehicle to get to the dead and injured victims.

The damage was estimated at about Bt8 million.

The Malaysian Embassy has been informed about the accident.

The injured passengers were sent to Doi Saket Hospital in Tambon Choengdoi in the province.

Uthai said there were many car accidents in the area but this was the worst with many casualties.

Chiang Mai Governor Pavin Chamniprasart rushed to the scene and inspected the wreckage.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Over-a-dozen-Malaysians-killed-in-bus-crash-in-Chi-30275332.html


-- The Nation 2015-12-21

[Mortal Wombat]

Updates please. Had folks traveling in that area.

[uptheos]

OMG this is terrible, something needs to be done about these bus drivers and buses.

Take them all off the road if necessary untill the equipment is checked thoroughly

and the drivers put through a very thorough and stringent test, enough is enough!

[Tywais]

Earlier topic in main CM forum here - Multiple deaths, bus crash Doi Saket

[steven100]

crickey ! speeding no doubt .....

[MESmith]

Earlier topic in main CM forum here - Multiple deaths, bus crash Doi Saket

The link that Naboo posted has a very shocking photo of one victim. The other cm108 link is censored.

[canuckamuck]

Not enough passing lanes on that stretch of highway and too many slow vehicles. People get impatient and pass in dangerous sections.

[roo860]

Brake failer, again.

[LivinLOS]

Not enough passing lanes on that stretch of highway and too many slow vehicles. People get impatient and pass in dangerous sections.

And too many so called professional drivers, doing so with the maturity of children..

Came along the 1317 san kampeang rd recently.. And I could see a van overtaking into the oncoming lanes, weaving in and out, in my mirrors.. I then watched him dive to the inside, undertake a few on the hard shoulder.. Gaining a few more precious places.. He then drove up to the red traffic light in the motorcycle left lane and swerved in front of another driver hard pushing in as the light went green..

On the rear of the van.. "Flight of the Gibbon"..

[khwaibah]

Bangkok Post front page reports brake failure and rouge driver fleeing from another accident.

[eyecatcher]

Just thinking road barriers may not be the answer, but a start at least. enforced no overtaking, speed limits, speed cameras.

compare this now, to a couple of months ago, when that (drunk) motorcyclist launched himself over the flyover......and survived a 8m drop.

next day they fixed barriers an extra 600mm higher.

they can do something about it, if they want to.

[MESmith]

Just thinking road barriers may not be the answer, but a start at least. enforced no overtaking, speed limits, speed cameras.

compare this now, to a couple of months ago, when that (drunk) motorcyclist launched himself over the flyover......and survived a 8m drop.

next day they fixed barriers an extra 600mm higher.

they can do something about it, if they want to.

There are more crash barriers going up on bends in the hills. Seen a few recently. Not been on that section of road recently.

You can have all the safety measures in place, but they wont do much in the case of some idiot driving a speeding bus in a car chase, like the bkk post is reporting.

[buddhalady]

Was driving down 108 towards town just after it must have happened - counted at least 14 vehicles of various types, all horns blaring, heading up to the crash site. Hoped it wasn't too bad - but this is a real tragedy. Heartfelt sympathy to the families of the dead and injured. If this doesn't result in some action re crash barriers - nothing will, but I'm not sitting on a hot stove waiting!

[Trujillo]

The passports shown in a link indicate Malaysians. Not sure if they qualify as Chinese.

There are long stretches there where it is nearly impossible to pass, even if it's clear sailing ahead. One slow car causes a back-up and then people get impatient.

Brake failure? I find that hard to believe. This was not some hayseed claptrap bus, and anyway, it just happened. Are they saying that they have already conducted a proper investigation and can conclusively make this analysis public? If so, it lets the drive off the hook...who apparently fled the scene, if I read right. Wonder why he'd do that if it was clearly mechanical failure?

[Happy Grumpy]

The cliff was in the way.

[Johpa]

Bangkok Post front page reports brake failure and rouge driver fleeing from another accident.

Hard to imagine a "rogue" driver being allowed to drive one of those gaudy double-decker buses used by the Chinese tour companies.

[Happy Grumpy]

Let's not forget that these inter-provincial bus 'drivers' can get their bus license without ever haven driven on public roads in any vehicle, ever.

They only need a Thai Driving License for a period of 1 or 2 years. No requirement to have driven on public roads for that.

Then they do a 2 day course on a government track. Viola, Inter-Provincial Bus License.

[roo860]

Not enough passing lanes on that stretch of highway and too many slow vehicles. People get impatient and pass in dangerous sections.

And too many so called professional drivers, doing so with the maturity of children..

Came along the 1317 san kampeang rd recently.. And I could see a van overtaking into the oncoming lanes, weaving in and out, in my mirrors.. I then watched him dive to the inside, undertake a few on the hard shoulder.. Gaining a few more precious places.. He then drove up to the red traffic light in the motorcycle left lane and swerved in front of another driver hard pushing in as the light went green..

On the rear of the van.. "Flight of the Gibbon"..

Flight of the Bell End.

[Chicog]

Bangkok Post front page reports brake failure and rouge driver fleeing from another accident.

Well I would imagine he was a little red faced.

[Trujillo]

The cliff was in the way.

Jesus! I was just thinking that!

[WitawatWatawit]

If as the Post is reporting that the bus driver was fleeing an earlier accident, then why? Can't have been a bad accident if the other vehicle was able to give chase. Could it have been because either the driver was unlicensed, or he had been told by his company that the bus had no insurance? Whatever. The passengers paid for this with their lives. RIP, and full recovery to the injured.

[Tywais]

This report states they were Malaysian tourists.

13 Malaysian tourists killed in road accident in Chiang Mai

The Nation December 20, 2015 3:50 pm

Thirteen Malaysian tourists were killed and eight others injured after their charted bus crashed into another vehicle before hitting a power poll and fell into a roadside in Chiang Mai Sunday, police said.

Police said the accident happened at 11:30 am on the Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai Road in Tambon Pamieng of Doi Saked district.

The bus was transporting 21 Malaysian tourists to visit Chiang Mai. The bus driver and his helper were also the injured.

Police said the accident happened after the bus hit a Toyota pickup in Mae Khachan district and the driver, Somporn Bualuang, tried to speed his bus to flee from the pickup.

The bus then lost control and hit into a Suzuki Swift car, police said. The car driver was also injured.

-- The Nation December 20, 2015

[Tywais]

#BREAKING No Chinese national on overturned bus in Chiang Mai, Thailand, says Chinese consulate

[docshock13]

BP reports driver of bus trying to flee another vehicle that was giving chase after being hit by the bus.

[canuckamuck]

This report states they were Malaysian tourists.

13 Malaysian tourists killed in road accident in Chiang Mai

The Nation December 20, 2015 3:50 pm

Thirteen Malaysian tourists were killed and eight others injured after their charted bus crashed into another vehicle before hitting a power poll and fell into a roadside in Chiang Mai Sunday, police said.

Police said the accident happened at 11:30 am on the Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai Road in Tambon Pamieng of Doi Saked district.

The bus was transporting 21 Malaysian tourists to visit Chiang Mai. The bus driver and his helper were also the injured.

Police said the accident happened after the bus hit a Toyota pickup in Mae Khachan district and the driver, Somporn Bualuang, tried to speed his bus to flee from the pickup.

The bus then lost control and hit into a Suzuki Swift car, police said. The car driver was also injured.

-- The Nation December 20, 2015

Ought to be a murder charge for that.

[MESmith]

I wonder if the bus sped through the police checkpoint to the north of the CR/CM border? Not that the BiB would've noticed anything untoward

[MaeJoMTB]

On the rear of the van.. "Flight of the Gibbon"..

Flight of the Bell End.

My wife was only interested in the number plate, she recorded it for some mad reason.

Sad to see so many Chinese tourists meeting their ends in CM.

It really shouldn't be happening.

[WaiLai]

Brakes again?

Okay, let's assume it was.

With the frequency of "brake issues" found to be the cause of an MVA, then:

1. bus company owners must be held responsible

2. stringent mechanical safety checks must be enforced

3. driver competence and qualifications must be checked

etc;etc;

It is time that the owners and the Ministry of Transportation are held accountable.

The internet savvy world is watching and Thailand is in it's cross-hairs.

[mesquite]

I hope this news spreads far and wide, so potential tourists see what really goes on here. Maybe if it hurts their pocketbook then the Thais will take action

[WaiLai]

I hope this news spreads far and wide, so potential tourists see what really goes on here. Maybe if it hurts their pocketbook then the Thais will take action

as said in another forum:

" the internet savvy world is watching and Thailand is in it's crosshairs"

Vote with your wallet.

The message will quickly trickle down to the money-makers.

* road safety may not be perceived as an acceptable cost of doing business for those with the "profits-first" mentality!