Phuket visa run van wipeout: 3 dead, 7 injured

[JoePai]

I put the blame on the Thai Civil Engineers - all bends in roads should have 'run off' areas like F1

[roo860]

That bloody rain again, it should be banned!!!!!!!

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[metisdead]

A post containing a link to a disallowed site has been removed as well as a reply. 

 

A post containing a derogatory generalization toward Thais has been removed.. 

[JetsetBkk]

2 hours ago, fruitman said:

What's the use of going over the border and coming back an hour later? Why not make it possible to pay at the immigration to get that stamp?

 

 

Don't be silly. Think of the families of those van drivers, the people employed by the visa run companies, the bosses who lean hard on Immigration to make sure your very sensible suggestion will never happen... they all need the work and the money. How can they make a living otherwise?

 

 

 

 

Apologies - was I laying it on a bit too thick?

 

[roo860]

I hope that bastard driver is crippled for life 

I think he survived according to the story via Stickboy, that van is a mess, looks like no seat belts worn?

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[ramrod711]

Clearly the house was to blame. The van driver was negotiating the curve in fine fashion when the house indicated that it was going to pull out onto the roadway. The driver decided that aggression was called for and gave the house a good lesson. RIP to the passengers.

[Sphere]

1 hour ago, kannot said:

i  see it  had  a TRD sticker  on it

 

The "U" must've fallen off.

[KarenBravo]

Frankly, the way these tour mini-buses are driven, I'm surprised there aren't more deaths.

[Soupdragon]

9 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

Frankly, the way these tour mini-buses are driven, I'm surprised there aren't more deaths.

 

Yes, but it is a problem that could be easily addressed, if only there was a will to do it.

[thetruth revealer]

3 hours ago, steve187 said:

lost control on a bend in the wet, so not his fault. - how was he to know vehicles slide in the wet on bends

always the drivers fault if speed not appropriate according the street and weather, thats what makes you qualified ....

[Sphere]

Meanwhile, truck driver crashes into 20+ cars on Ekkamai Road.....

[evadgib]

1 hour ago, madmitch said:

In this instance we should get some proper eyewitness accounts from those fortunate survivors of the incident, instead of the usual speculation.

What are the chances of local CCTV being supported by dashcam footage from the van? 

 

(My point being I doubt if it had one!)

 

 

[whatproblem]

What's the chances that the driver gets more than 1000 fine?

[IamNoone88]

It will never end. Each day and every day, the mini-van drivers cause fatal accidents. No where else in the world does this happen. Well done again.

[spidermike007]

It is a bit too early to tell who was at fault. Could have been a faulty vehicle, an animal on the road, a sleepy driver, a reckless driver, bad weather, or lack of driving skill. But, we do know two parties who are definitely at fault. Little P, and the immigration department. They know how dangerous these roads are. They know a small number of people doing visa runs will die, or be badly injured. These visa runs are an antiquated policy, in drastic need of revision. I presume they were originally designed as a way to stimulate the economy, as much revenue would go to the mini van operators, the airlines, hotels, etc. One could even be as cynical as to say that these visa runs would help support the hospitals too. But, the time has come to revise this policy, and eliminate these dangerous, environmentally disastrous, and completely unnecessary visa runs. This service should be available IN COUNTRY. Period. Anything else is irresponsible, and contributes to the mayhem. So what about the minivan operators who thrive on this? Let them get into something else, or use their vans for more productive use. 

 

For now, the fault of these deaths rest squarely on an administration which is completely lacking any creative juice, and most definitely lacking the desire to make life easier for tourists and ex-pats. 

Edited December 21, 2016 by spidermike007

[Rc2702]

Excellent example of why not to build a house so close to main roads. RIP 

[Deli]

brainless maniacs behind the steering wheel, avoid as much as possible to sit in a mini van in this country

 

[bbbbooboo]

hmmm.....there's nothing you can say about this sort of thing in this place...stupidity does come to mind though

[Phuketboy]

Still amazes me why anyone takes these visa run buses when it is so easy and much safer to fly out to do visa run.  RIP to the unlucky souls who lost their lives.  

[licka]

3 hours ago, steve187 said:

RIP

changing Thai drivers will always be an uphill struggle, lots of reasons,  lack of enforcement of traffic rules, drivers hours, road design, and more important the 'Professional" drivers mind set

use sec 44 to bring the immigration laws up to date and stop all these border runs.

 

 

Professional drivers mind set in Thailand ?? 

First they have to learn to think, not just do what they want

[RIC23]

These guys go WAY TOO FAST !!!

I won't use them They are dangerous

[nycjoe]

If they changed the immigration laws they could make a few baht and avoid this altogether. It is dangerous, and a great inconvenience to people who add to the Thai economy. Hopefully ASEAN will deal with this one day.

[helloagain]

4 hours ago, oilinki said:

It wouldn't solve the issue, which is the culture of road traffic in Phuket. Pure selfishness on the roads. Speeding and overtakings in corners, overtakings in high speed on the left... 

They are muppets. Hope the driver died..........slowly

[flyingdoc]

RIP the dead!  One other factor rarely mentioned is the ridiculous soft light policy adopted in Thailand. Very often one is driving as if without lights on, when in reality one is on dipped headlights  but to no effect!

[phantomfiddler]

The only way I can ever see myself getting into one of those minivans is if I was on my way to the madhouse, because that is where anyone who uses them belongs :)

[jlwilliamsjr18]

Slid huh... that's it? Hmmm....  Obviously a high speed accident.  One, day we'll all wake up to headlines, that police will now take full responsibilty for enforcing speed laws and......(wait for it).............. proper chauffeur licenses for vans and other public transport drivers.

[tropo]

4 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Wow.  That's a nasty looking crash.  They should close that company down.  Unfortunately, it'll just pop up again under another name. 

 

I'm glad my visa run days are over after having endured many scary visa run trips to the Cambodian border.

[tropo]

33 minutes ago, nycjoe said:

If they changed the immigration laws they could make a few baht and avoid this altogether. It is dangerous, and a great inconvenience to people who add to the Thai economy. Hopefully ASEAN will deal with this one day.

 

Visa runs are already becoming scarcer with the introduction of new border run restrictions.

[BuckBee]

'Heavy rain to blame' 
Not thai driver being usual idiot in poor conditions !

[Jonmarleesco]

5 hours ago, oilinki said:

It wouldn't solve the issue, which is the culture of road traffic in Phuket. Pure selfishness on the roads. Speeding and overtakings in corners, overtakings in high speed on the left... 

You really think it's peculiar to Phuket? This is Thailand, with Thai driving culture.