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Three women injured when public bus crashed into Phuket pole


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Posted

Three women injured when public bus crashed into Phuket pole

Eakkapop Thongtub

post-247607-0-08554700-1456018323_thumb.

Photo: Ekkapop Thongtub

PHUKET: Three women were hospitalised when a Phuket songtaew bus almost split in half as it crashed straight into an electricity pole in Mai Khao this morning (Feb 20).

The blue public bus, known as a Pothong, was carrying five passengers at the time and had just left the Tha Chat Chai checkpoint heading to Phuket Town when the driver lost control of the vehicle and hit the pole in front of Baan Nasompor Mosque on Thepkassatri Road.

Full story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/three-women-injured-when-public-bus-crashed-into-phuket-pole-56296.php

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-- Phuket News 2016-01-21

Posted

These are the public buses still used today made by wood, we are living in 2016 not 1970 thumbsup.gifwai2.gifcoffee1.gif

we are living in 2016 not 1970

I would like to correct you if you don't mind, you are living in 2016, the expat bar flies are living in 1970, Thais are living in 1905.

Posted (edited)

One less cattle truck!

Needs to be replaced with a real bus!

"The driver, Lek Lomchat (63 years old), escaped without injury but he was taken to hospital to check for alcohol level."
Edited by Old Croc
Posted

Having used these buses whilst living on the island for over 15 years this is the first time to my knowledge that one has been in crash of this magnitude..they are good reliable means of transport....drivers are great and very friendly people and u get to know the locals which an be a bit of at times....yes a proper western style bus service I needed but hey TIT

Posted (edited)

Or more likely, his bus suffered a serious mechanical failure, or, he became unwell and passed out due to ill health (like some bin truck drivers in Glasgow do sometimes), or he swerved to avoid a pedestrian and lost control, and so on, and so on........! But if you prefer a Thai bashing answer, feel free and sorry t have interrupted.

Edited by seedy
Quote hidden post
Posted

Having used these buses whilst living on the island for over 15 years this is the first time to my knowledge that one has been in crash of this magnitude..they are good reliable means of transport....drivers are great and very friendly people and u get to know the locals which an be a bit of at times....yes a proper western style bus service I needed but hey TIT

Agree. There is a pink bus crash back awhile, but nothing to kill the service about. I also enjoy the blue bus on occasion. They'll even go off route and drop you off if you have a lot of stuff.

Posted

How do you lose control at 5km per hour.

Easy. Driver not paying attention because busy on the phone talking to gf.

Posted (edited)

One less cattle truck!

Needs to be replaced with a real bus!

One of my neighbors has one of these wooden "buses" on the back of a new Isuzu cabover medium duty truck frame. I asked him why? He said because it's traditional in Phuket and we are trying to maintain some of our traditions. The rest of the family have owned long tail boats for at least two generations. Or in other words; it's the only way to be a member of the local "association"...

Edited by Jimi007
Posted

One less cattle truck!

Needs to be replaced with a real bus!

One of my neighbors has one of these wooden "buses" on the back of a new Isuzu cabover medium duty truck frame. I asked him why? He said because it's traditional in Phuket and we are trying to maintain some of our traditions. The rest of the family have owned long tail boats for at least two generations. Or in other words; it's the only way to be a member of the local "association"...

Yes, therein lies the problem.

Small minded, selfish and criminal fools living in the last century, are still deciding transport options in a modern, overcrowded tourist Island.

I believe there is a place for these traditional conveyances (including tuk tuks) in limited tourist areas as an attraction for visitors.

However, at the risk of sounding like the forum harpy, Phuket desperately needs a modern transport system to move the hundreds of thousands of commuters needing to travel fast and safely around the place daily.

As seen above, cattle trucks, while quaint, should not be used at speed on open roads as a relevent transport option.

I hope the unfortunate ladies who were injured in a totally unsuited and unsafe truck make a full recovery.

Posted

These cattle trucks are a joke and an embarrassment on this, haha, International World Class Holiday Destination. On Rawai beach now the taxi stands have not only returned but have proliferated and not a motosai taxi to be seen. The 'public buses' (read little chicken buses), magically transform themselves into 'taxis' too after 2pm and charge accordingly, although not the exorbitant rates of the saloon cars. I and a visiting friend were made to wait an entire hour in the hot sun with a gaggle of other tourists for a public bus actually behaving like one and deigning to pick us up. It was completely overloaded with farang, hanging off of the back too. Disgusting. They should take a leaf out of Penang's book and install a modern efficient public bus running every five minutes, but they won't because they are selfish greedy bastards. And before anyone starts with the oh you're Thai bashing' comments, the Thais suffer too and must resort to Honda Clicks and the like, killing/maiming several of them on a daily basis.

Most on this forum don't care as they have their own transport, but should give a thought to those that don't. Even my Thai professor neighbour states how bad it is for tourism. A joke this place is with absolutely no sign of it getting any better, despite P's posturings and occasional 'swoops'. Bah!

Posted

It didn't "almost split in half", it split in half, Jesus wept.

Went to the vehicle licensing/transport centre here in Phuket a few years ago when I first bought an old second-hand car, this for registration and for what appeared to be some sort of maintenance check.

There were a few of these "buses" there and I parked near one to have a look at it and I reasoned by the state of it, that it would never pass any sort of inspection because there were holes in the drivers floor where the metal had rusted through, there were no doors on the thing (drivers cab), there was enough play on the steering wheel to make you wonder if it was actually attached to any steering mechanism and last but not least, a couple of the tyres were tread-less.

In addition, the general condition of the drivers area looked like it had been pulled out of a scrapyard..........but all was deemed well with it and it was back on the road later in the day, and now every time I see one making its way down Patong Hill, I shudder to think about the safety of the people in it.

Posted

Went to the vehicle licensing/transport centre here in Phuket a few years ago when I first bought an old second-hand car, this for registration and for what appeared to be some sort of maintenance check.

There were a few of these "buses" there and I parked near one to have a look at it and I reasoned by the state of it, that it would never pass any sort of inspection because there were holes in the drivers floor where the metal had rusted through, there were no doors on the thing (drivers cab), there was enough play on the steering wheel to make you wonder if it was actually attached to any steering mechanism and last but not least, a couple of the tyres were tread-less.

In addition, the general condition of the drivers area looked like it had been pulled out of a scrapyard..........but all was deemed well with it and it was back on the road later in the day, and now every time I see one making its way down Patong Hill, I shudder to think about the safety of the people in it.

These so called tests are all about checking the VIN - Vehicle Identity Number to check against the vehicle registration book.

Posted

Went to the vehicle licensing/transport centre here in Phuket a few years ago when I first bought an old second-hand car, this for registration and for what appeared to be some sort of maintenance check.

There were a few of these "buses" there and I parked near one to have a look at it and I reasoned by the state of it, that it would never pass any sort of inspection because there were holes in the drivers floor where the metal had rusted through, there were no doors on the thing (drivers cab), there was enough play on the steering wheel to make you wonder if it was actually attached to any steering mechanism and last but not least, a couple of the tyres were tread-less.

In addition, the general condition of the drivers area looked like it had been pulled out of a scrapyard..........but all was deemed well with it and it was back on the road later in the day, and now every time I see one making its way down Patong Hill, I shudder to think about the safety of the people in it.

These so called tests are all about checking the VIN - Vehicle Identity Number to check against the vehicle registration book.

Ah well, that explains a lot doesn't it, and I thought it was also for the purposes of vehicle testing, but obviously not!

I was pretty sure that they tested my lights and brakes when I took it into the "maintenance bay", but maybe not as it was a few years ago now.

So these absolute deathtraps are allowed out on the road? It could explain why so many buses and trucks crash here. TIT after all.

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