Ministry of Transport responds to tragic van crash

 

CHONBURI, 3 January 2017 (NNT) – The Ministry of Transport has responded to a tragic collision that took place on Baan Bueng road of Chonburi province where a passenger van from Chantaburi crashed into a pickup truck at high speed, resulting in the deaths of 25 people. 

Minister of Transport Arkhom Termpittayapaisit has said that a thorough investigation is taking place into the crash, which involved a fire that caused most of the 25 deaths. One matter being looked into is the absence of a GPS tracker on the public transport van as such vehicles are required by law to have trackers. The Department of Land Transport has already been ordered to make sure all transport vans are equipped with the GPS device within the next 2-3 months, ahead of the Songkran holiday. 

The incident has also prompted the Ministry of Transport to order an inspection of every public transport vehicle before departure and for strict watch over the driving behavior of operators. 

Overall, the latest New Year’s holiday saw a higher rate of accidents, injuries and deaths than the previous year and authorities have pointed out more stringent monitoring is needed.

 

-- nnt 2017-01-03

Sack the transport minister and transport police officer. Start at the top! The only way to change things in Thailand.

That's a pretty pathetic response to 25 deaths telling the authorities to do their job...

is it that hard to police one group of public service vehicles,  so so easy a police car/man sees a mini bus doing something that draws his attention to it, so he stops the vehicle and checks it out, amount of passengers, gps, etc etc, happens all the time in other countries.

What a crock of BS.

Idiots. These people are utterly brainless if they believe gps trackers will rein in the ridiculous driving that causes crashes like this latest one.

A speed limiter that is attached to the engine, and that is fully tamper proof is the only way these foolish ape drivers will slow down.

Also the use of pick up truck storage flatbeds is responsible for many of the deaths, this is a much tougher practice to rein in.

The authorities have failed, there is no hope without serious overhaul for violations. 

RIP to the innocent victims. Such a tragic waste of life

6 minutes ago, khwaibah said:

What a crock of BS.

what a tragic accident

10 minutes ago, steve187 said:

is it that hard to police one group of public service vehicles,  so so easy a police car/man sees a mini bus doing something that draws his attention to it, so he stops the vehicle and checks it out, amount of passengers, gps, etc etc, happens all the time in other countries.

In a word, yes. It is that difficult to police with rampant corruption as it is. The officials take a bribe and then people die. Simple as that. Until it's rooted out (but it can't be as someone  else takes a bung to not do it) the carnage will continue. 

Won't do much. I don't know why the ministry of transport bothers saying anything.

7 minutes ago, z42 said:

Idiots. These people are utterly brainless if they believe gps trackers will rein in the ridiculous driving that causes crashes like this latest one.

A speed limiter that is attached to the engine, and that is fully tamper proof is the only way these foolish ape drivers will slow down.

Also the use of pick up truck storage flatbeds is responsible for many of the deaths, this is a much tougher practice to rein in.

The authorities have failed, there is no hope without serious overhaul for violations. 

RIP to the innocent victims. Such a tragic waste of life

Even better.  Something more than a 500B fine for these drivers when caught violating the law.  And something more than a 30k Baht penalty to the owners for death of a passenger.  Things would change drastically if these penalties were significantly increased.

14 minutes ago, Clamhua said:

That's a pretty pathetic response to 25 deaths telling the authorities to do their job...

 

They sit in tents right next to the roads...only problem is they never come out, even not during cool temperatures. But why should they come out? They get paid anyway......

They need to develop a system suh as log books to track the amount of hours these drivers are working. I read that the major cause of the fatal accident in Chonburi was the van driver fell asleep.

4 minutes ago, barryofthailand said:

They need to develop a system suh as log books to track the amount of hours these drivers are working. I read that the major cause of the fatal accident in Chonburi was the van driver fell asleep.

log books don`t mean much unless the inspectors pull the bus apart to find the 2nd log book and the hidden goee, the log book thing is so easy to bypass

Oh yes! A lack of a GPS tracker caused the accidents! Seriously!

The Department of Land Transport has already been ordered to make sure all transport vans are equipped with the GPS device

 

What the hell will a GPS tracker do anyways?

 

Is it going to bitch slap the driver awake if he falls asleep?

Is it going to monitor his blood to see if there is any drugs in the drivers system?

Is it going to warn the driver that his tires are almost bald and driving in the rain may endanger himself, his passengers and everybody else that he crashes into?

Is it going to take control of the vehicle and miraculously save everybody?

 

Putting a GPS tracker is about as useless in saving lives as putting GPS trackers on all tourists who travel in the country.

 

Pure 100% un-adulterareted bovine psychology.

55 minutes ago, webfact said:

The Department of Land Transport has already been ordered to make sure all transport vans are equipped with the GPS device within the next 2-3 months, ahead of the Songkran holiday. 

Can these GPS thingees (I don't own one tech challenged) tell us if we have enough water for Songkran? That would impress the H out of me. 

I went a "short" trip (120 km) by van here up-country today and before I got off they had managed to squeeze 20 passengers inside.... That's 7 more than the 13 passenger seats that they usually have!

BTW. I don't know how many police checkpoints we passed but I would guess about 10 and we were never stopped, the only one I could see them stop were motorcycle drivers without helmets and pickups with clear overload.

2 minutes ago, ezflip said:

The Department of Land Transport has already been ordered to make sure all transport vans are equipped with the GPS device

 

What the hell will a GPS tracker do anyways?

 

Is it going to bitch slap the driver awake if he falls asleep?

Is it going to monitor his blood to see if there is any drugs in the drivers system?

Is it going to warn the driver that his tires are almost bald and driving in the rain may endanger himself, his passengers and everybody else that he crashes into?

Is it going to take control of the vehicle and miraculously save everybody?

 

Putting a GPS tracker is about as useless in saving lives as putting GPS trackers on all tourists who travel in the country.

 

Pure 100% un-adulterareted bovine psychology.

Loved your reply deserved a like fur sure. I have to quit here for the day the posts are starting to make to much sense. Sayonara. 

A troll post has been removed

Nice response from the minister as usual.

the long-distance Minivans are the cancer of the Thai transportation network and the meaningless statement published by the ministry shows that they couldn't care less about it.

80% (probably more) of the drivers are under amphetamines and should be jailed on the spot

"... Minister of Transport Arkhom Termpittayapaisit has said that a thorough investigation is taking place into the crash, which involved a fire that caused most of the 25 deaths..."

 

Let us hope they learn something this time - https://is.gd/FSBhAW !!!

 

It's going to be difficult (if not impossible) to arrive at a definitive lesson from this tragedy, but 12 people travelling in the pick-up truck has to be a good place to start their enquiries.

 

Unless these GPS devices can limit a vehicle's speed, or emit an annoying beep every 30 seconds to keep the driver awake, it's going to be hard to see how they will prevent this type of accident occurring again.

 

 

53 minutes ago, z42 said:

Idiots. These people are utterly brainless if they believe gps trackers will rein in the ridiculous driving that causes crashes like this latest one.

A speed limiter that is attached to the engine, and that is fully tamper proof is the only way these foolish ape drivers will slow down.

Also the use of pick up truck storage flatbeds is responsible for many of the deaths, this is a much tougher practice to rein in.

The authorities have failed, there is no hope without serious overhaul for violations. 

RIP to the innocent victims. Such a tragic waste of life

 

if they believe gps trackers will rein in the ridiculous driving that causes crashes like this latest one.

 

of course they dont think it will make any difference. they just want to be seen to be doing something, anything, to save face and appear important. that's how it is here and will continue to be.

Meanwhile on Suphanburi road.....

 

These so called 'Officials' should hang their heads in shame. Fit speed limiters to all public passenger carrying vehicles to about 90 kph for starters, that has to be at least 30 kph less than they usually drive at, compulsory alcohol & drugs testing before getting behind the wheel every day, and GPS trackers or Tachometers to ensure that they don't drive for elongated periods of time. And make the bus owners criminally responsible if an accident kills a passenger and their employee was at fault.

 

I really do despair sometimes at the cheapness of life that this country applies to it. 

1 hour ago, Clamhua said:

That's a pretty pathetic response to 25 deaths telling the authorities to do their job...

He should take responsibility and resign from his post. 

I have a question to the posters in these Thailand accident threads, do you all go on and on like this with cynical one-liners about the tragic deaths in your home countries as well or does Thailand get your exclusive comments on how terrible it is here? 

 

Sadly and tragically automobile deaths happen every day everywhere in the world due to either poor drivers or drunks(especially around this time of year). The US has these types of senseless deaths even with steep fines, jail time etc. It is extremely difficult to police. I used to be a volunteer fireman/EMS and would see wrecks like these and I always wondered how but you add alcohol and those individuals better judgment got worse and worse with every sip.  

7 minutes ago, Sphere said:

Meanwhile on Suphanburi road.....

 

 

 

A short nap urgently needed.....

1 hour ago, clockman said:

Sack the transport minister and transport police officer. Start at the top! The only way to change things in Thailand.

 

 

Sorry this needs the personal attention of the TOP man the PM, if he wants he has the power to stop all this carnage

 

Will it happen I doubt it unless international pressure can be brought, like pictures each time in all international press

Just now, al007 said:

Sorry this needs the personal attention of the TOP man the PM, if he wants he has the power to stop all this carnage

Stop it all. Wow, that will be an achievement