Phuket tour bus driver suspended, company fined over fatal ‘red- plate’ bus accident

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Phuket tour bus driver suspended, company fined over fatal ‘red- plate’ bus accident

The Phuket News

 

The tour bus driver has been suspended and the tour company fined B50,000. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

 

PHUKET: -- The driver of a tour bus illegally carrying passengers while still fitted with red license plates – and which killed a motorcyclist in a collision on Sunday – has had his license suspended for three months and the bus operator has been fined B50,000, transport officials have confirmed.

 

The “red license plates” are issued by the Land Transportation Department so that unregistered vehicles can be moved on public roads, and are specifically marked with the words “Use for sale or repair”.

 

“The bus, which belongs to Racharot tour company, had been recorded with the Transport Dept in July 2016 to be used for land transportation, but the bus had yet to be registered and issued license plates,” Prapai Suankul, Senior Policy Specialist at the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO), told The Phuket News this morning (Sept 14).

 

The accident occurred in front of Hongyok Bumrung School at about 4pm when Korean tourists returning from Phang Nga to Phuket Town were witness to a horrific accident on Thepkrasattri Rd in Mai Khao when the bus they were travelling in struck and killed 47-year-old local Baan Yid, Mai Khao, resident Noppadon Chairab.

 

Full story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-tour-bus-driver-suspended-company-fined-over-fatal-red-plate-bus-accident-59084.php

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2016-09-14

[craigt3365]

50,000 Baht?  Should be a few million, at least.  And the driver should be in jail for the fatal accident.

[clockman]

Pathetic. life is cheap. No accountability.

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

50,000 Baht?  Should be a few million, at least.  And the driver should be in jail for the fatal accident.

Driver in jail? According to the reports the motorbike cut in front of the bus to make a U-turn. Unless you want to pinish the driver for being employed by somebody who does not take the road requirements to seriously.

[craigt3365]

25 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Driver in jail? According to the reports the motorbike cut in front of the bus to make a U-turn. Unless you want to pinish the driver for being employed by somebody who does not take the road requirements to seriously.

Got ya!!!

[trogers]

Foreigners would do well to leave their international driving licenses at home if they intend to visit Thailand. 

 

Here, a driver is still considered reckless when he ploughs on to a buffalo lying in the middle of the road in the dead of night...

[whatproblem]

And the bus has red plates because the DLT are incompetent and it takes months to get a number plate?

[stevenl]

19 minutes ago, whatproblem said:

And the bus has red plates because the DLT are incompetent and it takes months to get a number plate?

The bus has red plates because at the moment they go to the DLT to get the regular plates taxes on the sale have to be paid.

[PETERTHEEATER]

43 minutes ago, whatproblem said:

And the bus has red plates because the DLT are incompetent and it takes months to get a number plate?

The problem is not with DLT but with the vehicle seller who own the red plate. They frequently wait until they have several applications from the sale of new vehicles until getting of their backsides and visiting DLT to apply for formal plates.

 

Along with the red plate affixed to the vehicle is a Brown Tabien Roht. The driver/operator is required every trip by date and mileage in the book and the vehicle is not supposed to be on the roads between 1800 and 0600 the following day.

 

A buyer can opt not to have a red plate but the vehicle is restricted on hours of operation and cannot go outside of the 'home' Province.

 

As stevenl (above post) says, delays in applying for formal plates is often done to avoid paying the annual road tax fee which deprives the government revenue.

[whatproblem]

47 minutes ago, stevenl said:

The bus has red plates because at the moment they go to the DLT to get the regular plates taxes on the sale have to be paid.

I didn't know that 

[LivinginKata]

54 minutes ago, stevenl said:

The bus has red plates because at the moment they go to the DLT to get the regular plates taxes on the sale have to be paid.

 

Lots of people even with private cars keep the red plates as it looks like they still have a new car and they don't pay annual road tax. Much BS talked about no plates available. Might have been true years ago but but not now.

[oldlakey]

5 hours ago, whatproblem said:

And the bus has red plates because the DLT are incompetent and it takes months to get a number plate?

You have to take the rough with the smooth 

[oldlakey]

4 hours ago, stevenl said:

The bus has red plates because at the moment they go to the DLT to get the regular plates taxes on the sale have to be paid.

AH that will be the rough then

[oldlakey]

4 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

The problem is not with DLT but with the vehicle seller who own the red plate. They frequently wait until they have several applications from the sale of new vehicles until getting of their backsides and visiting DLT to apply for formal plates.

 

Along with the red plate affixed to the vehicle is a Brown Tabien Roht. The driver/operator is required every trip by date and mileage in the book and the vehicle is not supposed to be on the roads between 1800 and 0600 the following day.

 

A buyer can opt not to have a red plate but the vehicle is restricted on hours of operation and cannot go outside of the 'home' Province.

 

As stevenl (above post) says, delays in applying for formal plates is often done to avoid paying the annual road tax fee which deprives the government revenue.

Such a unfair world 

[oldlakey]

4 hours ago, whatproblem said:

I didn't know that 

It pays to be a Thai visa member

It helps to keep the finger on the pulse