5 dead, more than 20 injured in bus-truck head-on collision in Kamphaeng Phet

[Lupatria]

A question to all of you who lived here for more than 3 weeks: Would it make any difference if 5 - 50 - or 500 people die in bus accidents tomorrow? No rules, no regulations, no control would be the phrase of the day after 24 hours.

[skippy]

Headline... 5 Dead.

From the story "The head-on collision killed both drivers of the bus and truck and two other passengers, who include a Myanmar man and a woman."

I may be old and I know my math skills are not what they used to be, BUT, 2 drivers killed, plus 2 passengers. Last time I checked, 2+2=4 not 5.

I do wish Thai reporters would check their facts, and proofread the stories.

... and the road carnage continues.

That has got burma back in the news, plus 2 dead and the running ghost which equals 5.

[tabarnak]

I don't understand why the government doesn't make these lazy ass police get out of their "police boxes" and patrol the roads for these idiot drivers.

I fully agree with you, but nobody gives a sweet shit in Thailand.

[saminoz]

Headline... 5 Dead.

From the story "The head-on collision killed both drivers of the bus and truck and two other passengers, who include a Myanmar man and a woman."

I may be old and I know my math skills are not what they used to be, BUT, 2 drivers killed, plus 2 passengers. Last time I checked, 2+2=4 not 5.

I do wish Thai reporters would check their facts, and proofread the stories.

... and the road carnage continues.

Paradoxically, it may mean that the bus, being a long distance transport, had two drivers, for"safety"?

[Assurancetourix]

And so the carnage continues. Won't they ever learn?

No, they won't

They won't; this morning cycling on road 22 going to Udon Thani; the accident was at Ban_Ya

[saminoz]

RIP again. Government should take responsibility for the daily road carnage.. Lack of driver education and regulations that are enforced, not abused.

I've said it before. The only way this will improve, with the selfish Thai mentality, is to hit the bus company owners with punitive damages for these accidents and any infringements.

Once they see that idiot, untrained, insecure, drugged or caffeinated drivers not only cost them millions in damages, compensation and insurance, then perhaps they'll invest in better drivers, better vehicles and training.

[AlphMichaels]

One wonders; why even bother painting lines and adding signs directing on when passing is OK. And I won't even go into proper distance to maintain between vehicles.

Edited February 16, 2016 by AlphMichaels

[cyberfarang]

So the bus was in the truck's lane...That means the bus was trying to pass a vehicle and crossed into the oncoming lane to pass...

Thai drivers don't drive to road conditions...should a bus full of passengers take the chance to pass by using an on-coming lane? answer - never; wait for the passing lane down the road....

Why do Thai drivers have this fetish to pass w/o reading road conditions? They take high risk behaviors all the time for the savings of a few seconds....dunb ass stupid by putting all drivers around them at unnecessary high risk...

It`s not like that at all. The unwritten rule is, I have a bigger vehicle then you so I have right of way. Lost count of the times I`ve been on my motorbike and almost been smashed off the road by car and pickup drivers that give ultimatums of either get out the way or suffer the consequences sometimes with only split seconds to spare.

[djlest]

every month now - why they have visa shakeups but absolutely zero bus driver shakeups?

[skippy]

Headline... 5 Dead.

From the story "The head-on collision killed both drivers of the bus and truck and two other passengers, who include a Myanmar man and a woman."

I may be old and I know my math skills are not what they used to be, BUT, 2 drivers killed, plus 2 passengers. Last time I checked, 2+2=4 not 5.

I do wish Thai reporters would check their facts, and proofread the stories.

... and the road carnage continues.

Paradoxically, it may mean that the bus, being a long distance transport, had two drivers, for"safety"?

or one downstairs checking baggage.

[kannot]

"Who cares" well the Thais obviously dont, the Police dont and the govt dont, you see this crap overtaking day in day out, selfish impatient pircks trying to carve in in the last 100th of a second before the road narrows. Added to this the ridiculous way roadworks are signposted with little to NO advance warning and you have the means for great roadkill.

Well done Thailand and the Thai nation!!

[sapson]

Normally this company Phretsapert is pretty safe with well maintained buses, unusually clean functioning toilets, smart attendants and drivers.

Have used then many times and was impressed with the general standard of driving on long trips, however they do run extremely long cross country routes Mae Sot to Mukdahan for example..................perhaps a normal driver change didn't happen and they continued on into the night?

Nakhon Chai Air air probably the best safety record over the years and Thai Transport and Chan tours survivable.

Luckily not more fatalities.

[stickylies]

Burmese women not Myanmar woman. U don't write a Thailand or a France woman either...

[sambum]

Headline... 5 Dead.

From the story "The head-on collision killed both drivers of the bus and truck and two other passengers, who include a Myanmar man and a woman."

I may be old and I know my math skills are not what they used to be, BUT, 2 drivers killed, plus 2 passengers. Last time I checked, 2+2=4 not 5.

I do wish Thai reporters would check their facts, and proofread the stories.

... and the road carnage continues.

Correct - very frustrating, and why mention the fact in one line that the dead include a Myanamar woman, and in another line, "two other passengers, who include a Myanmar man and a woman" A.Myanmar man and woman TOTALS two people,not INCLUDES two people.

[sambum]

Headline... 5 Dead.

From the story "The head-on collision killed both drivers of the bus and truck and two other passengers, who include a Myanmar man and a woman."

I may be old and I know my math skills are not what they used to be, BUT, 2 drivers killed, plus 2 passengers. Last time I checked, 2+2=4 not 5.

I do wish Thai reporters would check their facts, and proofread the stories.

... and the road carnage continues.

Paradoxically, it may mean that the bus, being a long distance transport, had two drivers, for"safety"?

A distinct possibility which was overlooked by the "journalist" as well as other basic reporting errors!

[kannot]

RIP to the dead.

The reporter seems to have gotten some parts wrong... As already stated 2+2=4 and either the truck was heading to Nakorn Sawan or the bus was going from Mae Sot otherwise that could not get a head on collision.

One problem is that they are remaking parts of the highway (I'm not sure how far but it's over 30km) so instead of being 2 lanes in each direction with a buffer area between there is just one lane in each direction, they are not doing one side of the highway at a time so you must change lanes at several places and at some areas it's back to using all the lanes. Add to that the more intense traffic of sugar cane trucks as there are 2 large sugar mills and Ajinomoto in Klong Klung.

BTW. I love taking the overnight bus either to BKK, Chang Mai or when going to Laos and I hope that the Land Transport Department gets their fingers out of their ... and get all these new rules and regulations implemented so that they can get the dangerous drivers of the roads.

The roads would be almost empty then, you have the lunatics on one side of the spectrum and on the other the dithering, timid ,hamsters afraid to do anything sitting half in the hard shoulder half in the road, dunno if theyre going left or looking for something on the phone or what????????

[tonywillo]

taking the bus in thailand is a false economy if ever there was one.

life too short to save money by taking the bus.

if i cant afford to fly or drive, i cant afford to go.

Interesting...would you take Nok Air or lash out one more star rating to Thai air. Seriously you think driving your self is safer than bus? Bus meets car..car px die. Bus meets mini bus..hope you get the picture. The odds of a fatality on a government bus (even private company) during the day light hrs must be far greater than car. Granted these odds increase at night when the idiots are in greater numbers.

[losername]

I don't understand why the government doesn't make these lazy ass police get out of their "police boxes" and patrol the roads for these idiot drivers.

You make very valid comment, however this was simply the fault of the driver making a wrong and dangerous decision to pass in an area where there were apparently road works in progress (road narrows).

An all too common happening it seems. Looks like the army boys are doing some police work too.

You are both correct, of course. One point is that, if this driver is making a manoeuvre like this approaching road works, he may have previously made 100 similar overtakes on this trip alone. These are the offences that a police patrol, suitably trained and authorised, might have been able to detect and the fatality might have been avoided. Multiplied by the number of buses on the road that night and even one patrol could make a positive contribution to road safety.

[MESmith]

Headline... 5 Dead.

From the story "The head-on collision killed both drivers of the bus and truck and two other passengers, who include a Myanmar man and a woman."

I may be old and I know my math skills are not what they used to be, BUT, 2 drivers killed, plus 2 passengers. Last time I checked, 2+2=4 not 5.

I do wish Thai reporters would check their facts, and proofread the stories.

... and the road carnage continues.

Correct - very frustrating, and why mention the fact in one line that the dead include a Myanamar woman, and in another line, "two other passengers, who include a Myanmar man and a woman" A.Myanmar man and woman TOTALS two people,not INCLUDES two people.

MEthinks the reporter is trying to blame the Burmese for the crash

[wabothai]

I don't understand why the government doesn't make these lazy ass police get out of their "police boxes" and patrol the roads for these idiot drivers.

Government does not control the police. It's their chief who has other things on his mind.

[raphoedon]

Better late on arrival than dead on time!

R.I.P.the deceased and speedy recovery to the injured.

[Issanraider]

I agree that to travel in these high speed buses is a sure way to shorten your life expectancy as they are generally driven by impatient maniacs.

I am convinced that my life was saved a few years ago by a Thai driver who was dithering at a right turn on highway 2 just outside Khon Kaen.

I was on my way to play golf at Singha Park golf club one morning and waiting to do a right turn off of highway 2 towards the golf club.

In front of me was one vehicle and when the right turn arrow turned green the Thai driver in front dithered around before starting to make the turn.

Fortunately for both him and me his lethargy saved us from total carnage as coming down highway 2 in a southerly direction were 2 large buses travelling I would guess at 140 kph with their headlights blazing and with clearly no intention of stopping at the red light which would have been showing on their side for some while.

The driver in front of me managed to brake and both buses missed him by a whisker but had he made the turn as soon as our green light showed I am convinced that I would have been the one to have been wiped out by these maniacs and doubtless numerous passengers in the 2 buses as the resulting collision would have been horrific.

Unfortunately until the Highway police start doing some effective policing rather than holding out for the 200 baht tea money these situations will continue.

[Shawn0001]

I don't understand why the government doesn't make these lazy ass police get out of their "police boxes" and patrol the roads for these idiot drivers.

The police cannot be trusted, they would most likely be a complete menace on the roads and only add to the death toll.

[emilymat]

I remember some years ago driving from Khon Kaen to Udon Thani. It was nighttime and I was driving carefully when suddenly one of these sugar lorries emerged like a ghost like image in front of me on the unlit road. It had no lights and was just a black blur from around100 yards as I approached it.

I vowed from that day I would not drive again at night in Thailand except in an emergency. I've kept that vow.

Who was wrong here I know not, but lights seem to be an optional extra.

[shaurene]

These bus drivers are not controls. I drive from Pattaya to Khon Kaen 2-3 times per month. I have been stopped a few times and fined for being on the right side lane. Buy there are so many buses on this run and they all stay on the right lane never pull over. I have never in more than 7 years seen the police stop a bus for this.

These bus drivers think they are lords of he road, "I am big so any one else get out of he way.

This stinks why they are left alone.

But we have our ideas. I got pulled over one time by traffic cop for being on the right side lane, I was over taking 2 trucks and the back truck was up the ass of the front one, no room to pull in after therearwagon.

I told the cop and he said I could only overtake one at a time and must pull in after the first overtake. Ha, 400 baht in his pocket.

[Shawn0001]

Headline... 5 Dead.

From the story "The head-on collision killed both drivers of the bus and truck and two other passengers, who include a Myanmar man and a woman."

I may be old and I know my math skills are not what they used to be, BUT, 2 drivers killed, plus 2 passengers. Last time I checked, 2+2=4 not 5.

I do wish Thai reporters would check their facts, and proofread the stories.

... and the road carnage continues.

You are just reading it wrong, it is both of the bus's two drivers and the trucks one driver, plus two passengers, actually now three passengers as one died on the way to hospital, so it is now six dead.

[thhMan]

Life is too short to put in the hands of these incompetent Thai people, who seem to fester on society... Knacker the boys at birth, or at least teach them that they are not gods

[khomlong1]

Thai drivers seem to use their vehicles as weapons.

[springheeled jack]

double decker buses are usually fairly safe as a rule if driven properly in this case it wasn't the bus driver tried to overtake a vehicle finishing on the same lane as an oncoming vehicle an oncoming 18wheeler truck laden with sugar the result both drivers 2passengers dead and 20 passengers injured .

Edited February 16, 2016 by springheeled jack

[sawadee1947]

I have no words for it....When will they learn and why PM does not stop...?