Bus carrying Chinese tourists plunges off cliff

[Emster23]

Hey guys, I know it is morning but still took 21 posts for someone to notice "the bus was fleeing after colliding with a car in the Danmae Kajan area of Chiang Rai." Why bus companies hire these moron drivers is beyond me..... think they are driving an F1 race car? And structural integrity of buses on par with cheap aluminum beer can. RIP victims

[klauskunkel]

from today's Headlines lineup:

Tourist bus crash kills 12 Malaysians in Thailand: tour group

British woman falls off moving tuk tuk in Kamala, dies after late night in Patong

Russian husband killed, wife seriously injured in car crash in Pattaya

RIP to all you tourists, who came on holiday to Thailand and died within 24 hours.

Hope tomorrow will be better, but it is a matter of luck...

[cardinalblue]

Reckless driving causing death....vehicular manslaughter charges at a minimum....

BS on brake failure...so sick of Thais trying to save face and not take accountability....

[jimstar1]

and of Siles RIP the victims not a good xmas for family and friends drive this road often and I am amazed at the Crazy Bastards driving these buses and vans flight of the Gibbon is one of the worst have called the company about but they don't give a shit t

[howzat]

Am lost for words. Horrible just absolutely horrible. Do something Dear General and pretty damned quick before somebody else's Christmas is ruined but I fear your words are just high voltage rhetoric telling us what we want hear but not actually the reality.

[TerrylSky]

too much ya ba and rao kao during and or before the trip. sad.

[mercman24]

where along the line did chinese tourists change to malaysians, reporting news stories are a frarce now, r.i.p. to the deceased, (whoever they may be)

[Colabamumbai]

When will the carnage end?

[Just1Voice]

My wife said her cousin was coming to CM right after the accident happened. She said he told her he had never seen so many emergency vehicles, and that traffic turned into a nightmare because everyone had to stop or slow down to gawk at the scene.

[mercman24]

nothing to do with crash barriers the driver was driving like a ****** idiot to try and escape from a previous coming together he was trying to flee and being chased by a vehicle he had hit earlier. .with no thought of the passengers he was carrying. all this carnage resulting from a minor traffic accident.

[Chilon]

Like some of the others I drove past the scene yesterday afternoon about 3pm. Basically a good road and good weather but more reckless drivers than usual, poor lane discipline and insane overtaking. All accidents waiting to happen.

[spidermike007]

It is entirely incumbent upon the government to make sure traffic safety is enforced and heinous violations like this are met with severe consequences. Throughout the rest of the civilized world it is known as a deterrent. A word that is virtually unknown to the regime. How else do you get the daredevil drivers to be more cautious and respectful of their passengers? How else can the frequency of these tragedies be lessened?

Action is the mark of a man. Talk is the mark of a man child.

[deecee10]

Oh, <deleted>!

Will this carnage ever end?

[jerome2]

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.

on yaba and drunk like all of them

[stephenterry]

Yet another avoidable tragedy. This time , manslaughter of 13 victims by a <deleted> count of a bus driver. RIP and I hope there will be a thorough investigation and the driver incarcerated for life.

[jerome2]

Bring back Thaskin method about yabaa

[webfact]

Thai police confirm 13 M’sians dead in Chiang Mai bus crash



BANGKOK: -- Thai police have confirmed that 13 Malaysians were killed in the horrific bus crash in Thailand early on Sunday, New Straits Times reported.

Malaysian ambassador to Thailand, Datuk Nazirah Hussain said in the latest report, 13 Malaysians were killed in the incident 12.20pm incident.

“Nine others were injured including four, who sustained serious injuries,” she said.

Nazirah said the Thai police have yet to disclose the list of victims. Earlier, it was believed that at least 16 Malaysians had perished in the tragedy.

Reuters had quoted provincial police chief Montri Sambunyanon as saying that the bus, carrying 23 people, had hit a car and ran off a curve in the road in the Doi Saket district, near the northern city of Chiang Mai.

Reports claimed that the driver had earlier rammed another vehicle and was trying to flee when the horrific crash occurred. The 10 other people on the bus, including the Thai driver, were also injured in the crash and are being treated in hospital in Chiang Mai city, Montri said. Two people from the other vehicle involved in the incident were injured as well. The bus was believed to be transporting the passengers to Chiang Mai.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/thai-police-confirm-13-msians-dead-in-chiang-mai-bus-crash


-- Thai PBS 2015-12-21

[The Deerhunter]

Highly possible that the accident was caused by some idiot doing dangerous passing coming the other way. I do not like travelling in Thai buses or mini-buses at all on open roads. I have my seat belt tightly buckled at all times, except on the occasions that there is not one.................. Bus drivers are bad enough; guys driving Toyota Commuter min-van buses are in many cases terrifying with the wife & 2 sons sitting un-belted in the front seats or occasionally sleeping loose on top of the engine cover or asleep in dad's arm as he drives. None of this is made-up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Try a trip from Prachin Buri to Korat over the mountains. Believe it or not day may be more dangerous than night when the driver can see on-coming vehicle lights around the blind corners!!!!!!!

I wonder how many die on that road every year.

PS Owing to the fact that that the driver was driving to flee a previous accident makes my post above, "off topic." I did not know that bit then. Sorry!!

Edited December 21, 2015 by The Deerhunter

[saminoz]

This is now getting a larger audience. In the past hour it was reported on Al Jazeera news hour. It also mention that Thailand has one of the worlds highest highway traffic death tolls. That ought to make some ears twitch.

It’s also continually running on the tickertape at the bottom of the screen on the Al Jazeera news bulletin every hour!

But I wish somebody like the BBC (such as panorama or something similar) or even Al Jazeera would do a one hour feature on traffic accidents in this country and try to analyse why Thailand is the second most dangerous country in the world for traffic accidents? and why Thai drivers are so impatient and inconsiderate and what can be done to help change their attitude?

There are so many questions that can be asked and addressed in a feature program and the Thai government certainly wouldn't like that concentrated worldwide publicity. In the face of the volume of cars on the roads now and the number all these dreadful traffic accidents why doesn’t the Thai government seem interested in raising driving standards? I mean the driving test here is an absolute joke and a farce compared to so many other countries. Why does nothing ever get done? Why doesn’t the minister of transport appear in public from time to time and express his horror and indignation and express determination to improve standards and curtail this carnage?

and they have plenty of cases to discuss. Just look at how many appear regardingThailand on this Al Jazeera website

http://www.aljazeera.com/Search/?q=bus%20crash%20in%20Thailand

Perhaps they should make the Minister for Transport appear on TV every month and announce the latest road death figures, with a breakdown of motorcycle, public transport, commercial vehicle, car and farang deaths.

Maybe a little loss of face might make him a little more attentive to his duties?

[siamcrut]

Just wonder if any passengers in the front seat or at least the tour guide, asked this mad driver to slow down...

[mogo51]

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!

Whilst I agree with you, it will never happen. TIT as they say.+

[The Deerhunter]

Bring back Thaskin method about yabaa

This bus killed 14. His "war on drugs" killed over 2,500 many who were not dealers or certainly not "Mr Bigs." but were on someones list of payback for something, possibly not drugs. The there was the bus-load of bodies suffocated to death in the south. The Youtube clips on that are chilling.

Criminally dangerous driving or extra-judicial killings???? I am surprises that you think one to be good and the other, bad. Surely neither are good?

[The Deerhunter]

It must be getting uncomfortably warm in the hot seat today. And an edict was issued just last week by the Ministry of transport (I think) to make this holiday period safe. Mind you the New Year holiday period doesn't start for a few days yet.

[MobileContent]

I feel very sad for all those killed. Many came from the small city of Batu Pahat in the State of Johore. What a terrible news just a few days before the festive seasons start.

[bazza40]

Like some of the others I drove past the scene yesterday afternoon about 3pm. Basically a good road and good weather but more reckless drivers than usual, poor lane discipline and insane overtaking. All accidents waiting to happen.

Not all of the road is good, there are some quite dangerous bends up at Khun Chae National Park. Badly cambered, have corrugations where turns are being made, double lane suddenly constricting into one.

Have driven that road many times and seen quite a few accidents. Almost all of them have been caused by the factors you mention. All one can do is drive as defensively as they can, and try to keep out of the way of the idiots.

I wonder how the Green Bus accident record ( routine service ) compares with the tour bus operators.

[spermwhale]

Headline should read: Bus Driver Kills Own Passenger Fleeing Scene of a Fender Bender.

This is so damn sad! Trying to outrun a car in a bus after hitting the car instead of staying to sort it out. Now instead these people are dead.

What the hell is wrong with Thai bus drivers?

This country needs a professional driving certification pronto. So sad.

[Tywais]

Post with link to Bangkok Post removed due to the following forum rule.

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[soistalker]

The Thais don't care about traffic fatalities.

Mai own rai.

It happened to someone else, why should they care? It happened to Farang, so double sure they don't care. At least half of the pictures of dead farang in the media have some fat Thai or silly womangirl smiling in the photo. This is something you would never see in a civilized country. And if you did, you can be sure that person would be immediately fired.

Thais don't respect human life. Period. On a different note, if they did, they wouldn't pimp out all their girls to prostitution.

[rebo]

don't be a "digital activist"......look for real answers.

whose coming with me to protest in front of bus company's headquarters??

crickets

I'ii go with you and anyone else.

Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the bus company yet.

In this regard I can help you, WaiLai: Wiraphan Tour (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.250041251676691.81980.158622717485212&type=1). They are obviously members of the - speaking for itself - bus operators advertizing coop CRAZY BUS THAILAND (in Thai letters) (

).

When you plan to protest in front of their headquarter here you find where to go: https://www.facebook.com/pages/วีระพันธ์ทัวร์/306964292746957

Please let us know when you will go.

[SOTIRIOS]

...........hit and run.......and murder......

...wonder how soon he can get back to work.......