Thailand: 7 killed and 38 injured in 3 separate road accidents

[webfact]

Thailand: 7 Killed and 38 Injured in 3 Separate Road Accidents

SA KAEO — Three people were killed and five others injured in head-on collision between two pick-up trucks in Watthana Nakhon district of Sa Kaeo Province on Sunday.

The accident occurred at 9.20am, involving an Isuzu pick-up truck with six people on board and a Nissan pick-up truck with two passengers.

All six people in the Isuzu pick-up were injured, one woman, Chonthicha Promthao, later died at a hospital of her injuries.

Full story: http://www.chiangraitimes.com/thailand-7-killed-and-38-injured-in-3-separate-road-accidents.html


-- Chiang Rai Times 2016-03-14

[leeneeds]

It has all been said here so many times,

getting people, industry and the government on board,

has to be done from within, my words, your words, "our words "

Have a zero effect on the mind set, and the continuing carnage,

life is so cheap when it is not yours, or a loved one's

an accepted fate seems to be the Norm, sadly,

R.I P.

[aussieinthailand]

Untill the BIB are forced to do something about road safety rather than the same ol tea money collection, nothing will change.

It starts with parents, they are responsible for teaching the kids bad driving habits,

There's the ten year old driving their kid sister/brother too school on the family motor bike, no license and no helmet.

Riding the motor bike up the wrong side of the road making this the norm and no problem, also just pulling out into traffic and turning left without looking, jumping the red lights. and flashing lights then overtaking when traffic is oncoming and will force them to pull off the road or slow down sharply.

There needs to be a large scale public awareness campaign on road safety and announcement that traffic offences will have large fines loss of license for 6 months up to years and gaol time. then the public should be encouraged to film the BIB via mobile phone camera, dash cam, and public bystanders etc, to deter them from pocketing money, and all fine to be paid at any police office, not the office the cop is attached to.

Bus and van company's need to be held responsible for what their drivers do, such as large fines to encourage them to select good/professional drivers and have them tested every year, and encourage people to contact bus/van drivers company and report bad driving and the police.

But TIT.

[Jessi]

More carnage on Thai roads.

RiP to the ones that lost their lives.

[Jessi]

Untill the BIB are forced to do something about road safety rather than the same ol tea money collection, nothing will change.

It starts with parents, they are responsible for teaching the kids bad driving habits,

There's the ten year old driving their kid sister/brother too school on the family motor bike, no license and no helmet.

Riding the motor bike up the wrong side of the road making this the norm and no problem, also just pulling out into traffic and turning left without looking, jumping the red lights. and flashing lights then overtaking when traffic is oncoming and will force them to pull off the road or slow down sharply.

There needs to be a large scale public awareness campaign on road safety and announcement that traffic offences will have large fines loss of license for 6 months up to years and gaol time. then the public should be encouraged to film the BIB via mobile phone camera, dash cam, and public bystanders etc, to deter them from pocketing money, and all fine to be paid at any police office, not the office the cop is attached to.

Bus and van company's need to be held responsible for what their drivers do, such as large fines to encourage them to select good/professional drivers and have them tested every year, and encourage people to contact bus/van drivers company and report bad driving and the police.

But TIT.

I agree with what you say but please more much more driver education.

These people have never heard of "Defensive Driving"

[MorristheRunt]

Untill the BIB are forced to do something about road safety rather than the same ol tea money collection, nothing will change.

It starts with parents, they are responsible for teaching the kids bad driving habits,

There's the ten year old driving their kid sister/brother too school on the family motor bike, no license and no helmet.

Riding the motor bike up the wrong side of the road making this the norm and no problem, also just pulling out into traffic and turning left without looking, jumping the red lights. and flashing lights then overtaking when traffic is oncoming and will force them to pull off the road or slow down sharply.

There needs to be a large scale public awareness campaign on road safety and announcement that traffic offences will have large fines loss of license for 6 months up to years and gaol time. then the public should be encouraged to film the BIB via mobile phone camera, dash cam, and public bystanders etc, to deter them from pocketing money, and all fine to be paid at any police office, not the office the cop is attached to.

Bus and van company's need to be held responsible for what their drivers do, such as large fines to encourage them to select good/professional drivers and have them tested every year, and encourage people to contact bus/van drivers company and report bad driving and the police.

But TIT.

There is no education in this country worth talking about.

Its like the blind leading the blind.

Thailand is also xenophobic. so wont bring in outsiders to help and advise.

[jamesbrock]

Untill the BIB are forced to do something about road safety rather than the same ol tea money collection, nothing will change.

It starts with parents, they are responsible for teaching the kids bad driving habits,

There's the ten year old driving their kid sister/brother too school on the family motor bike, no license and no helmet.

Riding the motor bike up the wrong side of the road making this the norm and no problem, also just pulling out into traffic and turning left without looking, jumping the red lights. and flashing lights then overtaking when traffic is oncoming and will force them to pull off the road or slow down sharply.

There needs to be a large scale public awareness campaign on road safety and announcement that traffic offences will have large fines loss of license for 6 months up to years and gaol time. then the public should be encouraged to film the BIB via mobile phone camera, dash cam, and public bystanders etc, to deter them from pocketing money, and all fine to be paid at any police office, not the office the cop is attached to.

Bus and van company's need to be held responsible for what their drivers do, such as large fines to encourage them to select good/professional drivers and have them tested every year, and encourage people to contact bus/van drivers company and report bad driving and the police.

But TIT.

I agree with what you say but please more much more driver education.

These people have never heard of "Defensive Driving"

More driver education is needed, definitely, but all the driver education in the world will not reverse the culture of driving with absolute impunity - unless the RTP actually begin to act like a real police force.

The reasons why they don't act like a real police force are many and varied, but, as I wrote in another thread yesterday, it all boils down to greed, and those in power having their collective snouts well and truly in the trough.

The reason Thailand is arguably the most dangerous country in the world to drive or ride, the reason there is so much organised crime that we now have an 'indefinite crackdown,' the reason there is an ever-growing list of increasingly-violent attacks across the kingdom, the reason Bangkok is rated 173 out of 230 cities across the globe for personal safety for expats, the reason there is such a massive human trafficking problem, the reason Thailand is the hub of sex-tourism despite prostitution being illegal - is the woefully incompetent, completely ineffectual Royal Thai Police farce.

Now, I'm not saying all police are terrible, but when a country's police force is so seriously underfunded that the members have to purchase their own weapons and equipment, where almost all of the rank and file officers have to resort to petty corruption, coercing bribes from the public or extorting money from traffic law violators, in order to make ends meet, one can never expect a professional police force with the highest of ethics. Indeed, one unfortunate consequence of the low salaries (officers holding a bachelor’s degree or better receive an initial salary of only 8,340 baht, while those with a sub-bachelor education receive a mere 6,800 baht) is the so-called ‘Harsh organisational value’ of RTP, i.e., the tacit attitude among police officers toward misconduct, fraud and collection of protection money. Not only do lower level officers see this behaviour as normal, they admire those senior officers who amass fortunes from illegal conduct.

Furthermore, when a country's police force is structured in such a way that this harsh value culminates in unfair appointments, which in turn can be linked to the centralised structure of the police force, there is very little hope of having a safe, law abiding society.

Thanks to the centralised structure of the RTP, high-level officials in the central office can appoint officers at the regional level. Moreover, since there are more officers at the commissioned level than at lower levels, with the former being granted power to hire or fire the latter, the reasons for promotions or demotions are unrelated to work performance, but rather to the personal relationships of officers with higher-ranking officials. Worst of all, ‘harsh value’ has led to the conspicuous purchase of positions within the agency, with the asking price for each position being revealed openly. Once those who bought their way up start working in their new positions, they will undergo a ‘payback’ period during which they tend to take bribes from illegal business operators to make up for the money ‘invested’ in buying their higher positions. This is why one can see illegal businesses such as casino or brothel-running on the high streets at the centre of cities such as Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket.

One of the stated reasons why the average salary of Thai police officer is so low is the sheer size of personnel - at roughly 250,000 personnel, giving a wholesale pay rise to ensure all earn enough to meet rising living expenses of, say, 5,000 baht per month, would cost the government an additional 15 billion baht (420 million USD) annually - enough to wipe out the kingdom's cash reserves in a little under four years. Of course, if this increase resulted in an effective police force able to stamp out corruption, not just within itself, but over the entire public service, the savings would be immeasurable.

Until Thailand has a decentralised, properly-paid, corruption-free, properly-trained (preferably by Australian, NZ, or UK police), professional police force with the highest of ethics, it will never be a safe country to live, visit, drive, or do business, and the overt corruption in all levels of government will continue unabated.

And it is this greed, this overt corruption in all levels of government, that prevents those with the power to change the situation from actually changing the situation.

[NongKhaiKid]

Concepts such as enforcement, proper deterrent sentences etc seem a mystery to the BIB, courts etc., perhaps the words don't exist in the Thai language.

[selftaopath]

It has all been said here so many times,

getting people, industry and the government on board,

has to be done from within, my words, your words, "our words "

Have a zero effect on the mind set, and the continuing carnage,

life is so cheap when it is not yours, or a loved one's

an accepted fate seems to be the Norm, sadly,

R.I P.

Yes.

One significant point is the rich/powerful are insulated from the carnage so WHO CARES.... is their apparent mentality. When one sees a caravan of vehicles it's protecting the "better" individuals. Who cares about the common, everyday group? They/we are looked down upon, despised, disregarded as only necessary to fulfill the "hi so" agenda.. kind of like a too... if broken or worn out others can be gotten and cheaply. So who in Lack of Sanctions cares - NOT the rich and powerful.

[selftaopath]

Untill the BIB are forced to do something about road safety rather than the same ol tea money collection, nothing will change.

It starts with parents, they are responsible for teaching the kids bad driving habits,

There's the ten year old driving their kid sister/brother too school on the family motor bike, no license and no helmet.

Riding the motor bike up the wrong side of the road making this the norm and no problem, also just pulling out into traffic and turning left without looking, jumping the red lights. and flashing lights then overtaking when traffic is oncoming and will force them to pull off the road or slow down sharply.

There needs to be a large scale public awareness campaign on road safety and announcement that traffic offences will have large fines loss of license for 6 months up to years and gaol time. then the public should be encouraged to film the BIB via mobile phone camera, dash cam, and public bystanders etc, to deter them from pocketing money, and all fine to be paid at any police office, not the office the cop is attached to.

Bus and van company's need to be held responsible for what their drivers do, such as large fines to encourage them to select good/professional drivers and have them tested every year, and encourage people to contact bus/van drivers company and report bad driving and the police.

But TIT.

If only your, and others suggestions, were even remotely considered for implementation. Sadly you/we are "preaching" to the choir. NO Thai official/rich CARES. Peasants/foreigners are only fodder.

[Thongkorn]

Sorry got to be said. You cannot put brains where they are none. They don't seam to learn from there mistakes, I see it every day, I see the Same people taking the same chance every day instead of doing the right thing. Statistics say one day you will be caught out. There was some research done in the Uk. Most fatal accidents are near the victims home. Mainly because they get familia with the road and take chances.

[MorristheRunt]

One thinh that I can never accept here or want to is the mentality of a Thai driver.

I can partly understand the <deleted!> you attitude, but they have a personal death wish....that simply blows my mind!

[worgeordie]

Will they never learn,its not just the dead and injured,it effects

all their families,so much trauma, RIP

regards Worgeordie

[Khun Paul]

The hand cream and tissue manufacturers are happy, cream to ensure the correct wringing of hands and the tissues to stem the floods of so-called tears from officials are mere sops to the everyday lives dramatically ended by the Thai mentality and culture.

The PM should be so proud of Thainess NOW, it is what he wants and yet he does not do anything about the MOST corrupt government organisation with over 250 k personnel does he . NO-way he would lose his job.

RIP to the deceased and commiserations to the injured, there will be NO change until a strong person does something. BUT currently there is NO-ONE to do that task.

[phrisco17]

Sorry got to be said. You cannot put brains where they are none. They don't seam to learn from there mistakes, I see it every day, I see the Same people taking the same chance every day instead of doing the right thing. Statistics say one day you will be caught out. There was some research done in the Uk. Most fatal accidents are near the victims home. Mainly because they get familia with the road and take chances.

[Hawk]

On a positive note, at least the monks and coffin makers are making lots of money from all the dead peoples families. While the hosp itals are making money fixing the injured. Even bad news is good news to someone!

[cumgranosalum]

Untill the BIB are forced to do something about road safety rather than the same ol tea money collection, nothing will change.

It starts with parents, they are responsible for teaching the kids bad driving habits,

There's the ten year old driving their kid sister/brother too school on the family motor bike, no license and no helmet.

Riding the motor bike up the wrong side of the road making this the norm and no problem, also just pulling out into traffic and turning left without looking, jumping the red lights. and flashing lights then overtaking when traffic is oncoming and will force them to pull off the road or slow down sharply.

There needs to be a large scale public awareness campaign on road safety and announcement that traffic offences will have large fines loss of license for 6 months up to years and gaol time. then the public should be encouraged to film the BIB via mobile phone camera, dash cam, and public bystanders etc, to deter them from pocketing money, and all fine to be paid at any police office, not the office the cop is attached to.

Bus and van company's need to be held responsible for what their drivers do, such as large fines to encourage them to select good/professional drivers and have them tested every year, and encourage people to contact bus/van drivers company and report bad driving and the police.

But TIT.

I agree with what you say but please more much more driver education.

These people have never heard of "Defensive Driving"

so far we have mentioned 2 "E"s - enforcement and education....unless all 5 are implemented there will be no improvement as they are interdependent.

anyone who sees road safety in Thailand as having a single issue cause or solution is on a hiding to nothing.

[ttthailand]

Thousands of times when I am driving on country two lane roads a car or truck has just appears in my lane heading directly at me blinking their lights. Basically if someone wants to pass they just do it. They figure the guy they are passing will stay left and the on coming traffic will also stay left opening up a new lane in the center of the road. If anyone has a change of mind or anything unexpected happens there is no turning back and an accident happens. I have seen accidents happen and near accidents happen too many times due to these drivers passing when they should not.

Part of the problem is that trucks are over loaded and or turn into traffic going too slow this causes other drivers to want to pass. If there is a motorbike on the side of the road when someone is trying to do this middle lane passing the situation gets even worse.

Not sure how to change the Thai thinking as everyone does it.

I don't drive at night anymore and I will not take a bus or Van. If I can't get there by day driving or a flight I don't go.

[NoshowJones]

Untill the BIB are forced to do something about road safety rather than the same ol tea money collection, nothing will change.

It starts with parents, they are responsible for teaching the kids bad driving habits,

There's the ten year old driving their kid sister/brother too school on the family motor bike, no license and no helmet.

Riding the motor bike up the wrong side of the road making this the norm and no problem, also just pulling out into traffic and turning left without looking, jumping the red lights. and flashing lights then overtaking when traffic is oncoming and will force them to pull off the road or slow down sharply.

There needs to be a large scale public awareness campaign on road safety and announcement that traffic offences will have large fines loss of license for 6 months up to years and gaol time. then the public should be encouraged to film the BIB via mobile phone camera, dash cam, and public bystanders etc, to deter them from pocketing money, and all fine to be paid at any police office, not the office the cop is attached to.

Bus and van company's need to be held responsible for what their drivers do, such as large fines to encourage them to select good/professional drivers and have them tested every year, and encourage people to contact bus/van drivers company and report bad driving and the police.

But TIT.

I agree with what you say but please more much more driver education.

These people have never heard of "Defensive Driving"

Good and safe driving is more about common sense, than anything else, a trait which is

not applicable to Thailand, so the dreadful road fatalities will continue for evermore.

[jamesbrock]

The hand cream and tissue manufacturers are happy, cream to ensure the correct wringing of hands and the tissues to stem the floods of so-called tears from officials are mere sops to the everyday lives dramatically ended by the Thai mentality and culture.

The PM should be so proud of Thainess NOW, it is what he wants and yet he does not do anything about the MOST corrupt government organisation with over 250 k personnel does he . NO-way he would lose his job.

RIP to the deceased and commiserations to the injured, there will be NO change until a strong person does something. BUT currently there is NO-ONE to do that task.

True, even though such structural reform would change Royal Thai Police for the better, the agency lacks any commanders willing to sacrifice their personal benefits for the greater good.

The idea to make the police force more decentralised have existed for more than half a decade, and since the middle of last decade, there have been numerous studies in Thailand that aim to offer concrete suggestions on how to reform the structure of the RTP, with the establishment of the Police Work System Development Committee chaired by Police-General Wasit Dejkunchorn in 2007. Wasit stated that the ‘Royal Thai Police has a rather clumsy structure, with long chains of command and command overlaps, intervention from headquarters in operation and promotion’. He suggested that ‘The structure of Royal Thai police is obsolete, with power concentrated in central headquarters and not distributed to other regions. I am in favour of reform toward a more decentralised system.’ However, in spite of all the ideas, studies and reports the current structure remains immutable because the powers-that-be, who have the means to reform, are not in favour of decentralisation as their powers would be subsequently reduced.

Untill the BIB are forced to do something about road safety rather than the same ol tea money collection, nothing will change.

It starts with parents, they are responsible for teaching the kids bad driving habits,

There's the ten year old driving their kid sister/brother too school on the family motor bike, no license and no helmet.

Riding the motor bike up the wrong side of the road making this the norm and no problem, also just pulling out into traffic and turning left without looking, jumping the red lights. and flashing lights then overtaking when traffic is oncoming and will force them to pull off the road or slow down sharply.

There needs to be a large scale public awareness campaign on road safety and announcement that traffic offences will have large fines loss of license for 6 months up to years and gaol time. then the public should be encouraged to film the BIB via mobile phone camera, dash cam, and public bystanders etc, to deter them from pocketing money, and all fine to be paid at any police office, not the office the cop is attached to.

Bus and van company's need to be held responsible for what their drivers do, such as large fines to encourage them to select good/professional drivers and have them tested every year, and encourage people to contact bus/van drivers company and report bad driving and the police.

But TIT.

I agree with what you say but please more much more driver education.

These people have never heard of "Defensive Driving"

so far we have mentioned 2 "E"s - enforcement and education....unless all 5 are implemented there will be no improvement as they are interdependent.

anyone who sees road safety in Thailand as having a single issue cause or solution is on a hiding to nothing.

I agree that the 5 E's model is where any safe, civilised country should be aiming, but without enforcement, no amount of education, engineering solutions, encouragement, or evaluation will change generations of drivers doing whatever the hell they want - and without a complete structural reform of the RTP, removing the nepotistic postings, and amassing of huge levels personal wealth as the main recruitment driver, and a complete retraining of the remaining officers by an external (dare I say) foreign agency, there will never be proper enforcement in Thailand.

Although it's rarely spoken about, I believe the complete structural reform of the RTP is one of the most pressing issues in the Kingdom - do that and virtually all other problems facing the country will eventually be tackled. Keep the RTP as it is, and the country will continue to stagnate as a hive of scams and corruption.

[bbbbooboo]

...more senseless slaughter on the Thai killing fields....I mean roads

[WhizBang]

Although it's rarely spoken about, I believe the complete structural reform of the RTP is one of the most pressing issues in the Kingdom - do that and virtually all other problems facing the country will eventually be tackled. Keep the RTP as it is, and the country will continue to stagnate as a hive of scams and corruption.

Precisely, and that is exactly what I have been saying for years.

Which just goes to show that everything this 'reform' junta says is a total farce. Prayut has even stated that police reform is NOT on the agenda. Which begs the question, why? The only real answer I can come up with is too many vested interests involved. Or, to put it another way, those who are pulling Prayut's strings are not interested in any kind of real reform, as that would impact the puppet masters too much.

If you look at all the 'reform' activity that has, or is, taking place, it is targeting the lowest levels of society. The street and beach vendors, the lottery ticket sellers, the beggers, etc. They were never the real problem. The real problems in this country are with government, police and military officials at all levels.

So, in another 4 to 6 years, I expect THailand to be writing it's 21st charter and probably under another junta.

Definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.

[chainarong]

Untill the BIB are forced to do something about road safety rather than the same ol tea money collection, nothing will change.

It starts with parents, they are responsible for teaching the kids bad driving habits,

There's the ten year old driving their kid sister/brother too school on the family motor bike, no license and no helmet.

Riding the motor bike up the wrong side of the road making this the norm and no problem, also just pulling out into traffic and turning left without looking, jumping the red lights. and flashing lights then overtaking when traffic is oncoming and will force them to pull off the road or slow down sharply.

There needs to be a large scale public awareness campaign on road safety and announcement that traffic offences will have large fines loss of license for 6 months up to years and gaol time. then the public should be encouraged to film the BIB via mobile phone camera, dash cam, and public bystanders etc, to deter them from pocketing money, and all fine to be paid at any police office, not the office the cop is attached to.

Bus and van company's need to be held responsible for what their drivers do, such as large fines to encourage them to select good/professional drivers and have them tested every year, and encourage people to contact bus/van drivers company and report bad driving and the police.

But TIT.

I agree with what you say but please more much more driver education.

These people have never heard of "Defensive Driving"

More driver education is needed, definitely, but all the driver education in the world will not reverse the culture of driving with absolute impunity - unless the RTP actually begin to act like a real police force.

The reasons why they don't act like a real police force are many and varied, but, as I wrote in another thread yesterday, it all boils down to greed, and those in power having their collective snouts well and truly in the trough.

The reason Thailand is arguably the most dangerous country in the world to drive or ride, the reason there is so much organised crime that we now have an 'indefinite crackdown,' the reason there is an ever-growing list of increasingly-violent attacks across the kingdom, the reason Bangkok is rated 173 out of 230 cities across the globe for personal safety for expats, the reason there is such a massive human trafficking problem, the reason Thailand is the hub of sex-tourism despite prostitution being illegal - is the woefully incompetent, completely ineffectual Royal Thai Police farce.

Now, I'm not saying all police are terrible, but when a country's police force is so seriously underfunded that the members have to purchase their own weapons and equipment, where almost all of the rank and file officers have to resort to petty corruption, coercing bribes from the public or extorting money from traffic law violators, in order to make ends meet, one can never expect a professional police force with the highest of ethics. Indeed, one unfortunate consequence of the low salaries (officers holding a bachelor’s degree or better receive an initial salary of only 8,340 baht, while those with a sub-bachelor education receive a mere 6,800 baht) is the so-called ‘Harsh organisational value’ of RTP, i.e., the tacit attitude among police officers toward misconduct, fraud and collection of protection money. Not only do lower level officers see this behaviour as normal, they admire those senior officers who amass fortunes from illegal conduct.

Furthermore, when a country's police force is structured in such a way that this harsh value culminates in unfair appointments, which in turn can be linked to the centralised structure of the police force, there is very little hope of having a safe, law abiding society.

Thanks to the centralised structure of the RTP, high-level officials in the central office can appoint officers at the regional level. Moreover, since there are more officers at the commissioned level than at lower levels, with the former being granted power to hire or fire the latter, the reasons for promotions or demotions are unrelated to work performance, but rather to the personal relationships of officers with higher-ranking officials. Worst of all, ‘harsh value’ has led to the conspicuous purchase of positions within the agency, with the asking price for each position being revealed openly. Once those who bought their way up start working in their new positions, they will undergo a ‘payback’ period during which they tend to take bribes from illegal business operators to make up for the money ‘invested’ in buying their higher positions. This is why one can see illegal businesses such as casino or brothel-running on the high streets at the centre of cities such as Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket.

One of the stated reasons why the average salary of Thai police officer is so low is the sheer size of personnel - at roughly 250,000 personnel, giving a wholesale pay rise to ensure all earn enough to meet rising living expenses of, say, 5,000 baht per month, would cost the government an additional 15 billion baht (420 million USD) annually - enough to wipe out the kingdom's cash reserves in a little under four years. Of course, if this increase resulted in an effective police force able to stamp out corruption, not just within itself, but over the entire public service, the savings would be immeasurable.

Until Thailand has a decentralised, properly-paid, corruption-free, properly-trained (preferably by Australian, NZ, or UK police), professional police force with the highest of ethics, it will never be a safe country to live, visit, drive, or do business, and the overt corruption in all levels of government will continue unabated.

And it is this greed, this overt corruption in all levels of government, that prevents those with the power to change the situation from actually changing the situation.

The key word here is Culture