More carnage as six dead after "sleeping" minivan driver collides head on with old folk's pick-up

[thinknirmal]

If only this Government had the spine, these vans would be banned immediately. But who needs a spine when you have a face?

[Displaynameinusebyanotherm]

1 hour ago, Borzandy said:

" The van driver, Rapipat Sukkit, was killed inside the van" at least justice is done.

Nah. Justice would be that the complete cabinet of roads/transport as well as complete rtp brass has to resign with no pension...

[IMA_FARANG]

Don't be so quick to blame the driver.

Often they are poorly paid, and they may have a family to feed and school.

The lure of a few more hours of pay sometimes leads them to ignore sleep for money.

In my opinion the vehicle owners who force their tired drivers to make a few extra Baht for their own profit are as  much to blame as anyone.

That is always the hard and callous  sharp edge of Capitalism westerners don't like to acknowledge or recognize.

Here in Thailand you can see that sharp edge every day.

Not a rant, just expressing a personal opinion.

 

 

[Dobredin Ghusputin]

Quote

The van driver, Rapipat Sukkit

 

Quote

asleep at the wheel

 

Like the people in charge.

 

[dutchbull]

" The van driver, Rapipat Sukkit, was killed inside the van" at least justice is done

 

this is a liitle bit too much of my taste

[spidermike007]

And just recently, the government announced a "crackdown" on reckless van driving. Remember that one? This government and Tiny P. are famous, all over the world, for their lack of sincerity, and their lack of follow up. How long do most crackdowns last? 48 hours? Four days? A week? Rarely longer. Why? Indifference. Apathy. Lack of diligence on the part of the officials. And their nearly complete inability to engage the toy police. They just do not want to do their jobs. Traffic and public safety is at the bottom of their list of priorities. Nobody, and I mean nobody takes these guys seriously. There is absolutely nothing in the way of a deterrent here, and both the local governments, the central government (weak Little P.) and the police do not take traffic safety seriously. Not even one iota. The safety of the public means less than zero to the small men in charge here. Nothing. They show that on a daily basis. And most of the deaths on the road here fall squarely on the small shoulders of Little P. for his utter and complete refusal to address traffic and public safety. The only way to survive here on the road, is to be patient, have eyes in the back of your head, drive with caution, and always, and I mean always watch out of the other guy. Chances are, he does not have much driving skill, nor patience, nor reason, nor common sense. You cannot be too careful on the road here. Especially considering that the toy police offer no traffic safety, nor enforcement of the law. 

[DekDaeng]

If only this Government had the spine, these vans would be banned immediately. But who needs a spine when you have a face?

What did the van do wrong?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, ThomasHOL said:

And that why i perfer to rent a car and drive myself. 

The sad thing is that you are still in danger if you are on the road anywhere and at any time in Thailand. You could be the best driver in the world, but if some neanderthal drives into you head-on.....

[Jeremy50]

10 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

The sad thing is that you are still in danger if you are on the road anywhere and at any time in Thailand. You could be the best driver in the world, but if some neanderthal drives into you head-on.....

It's much much safer to drive yourself. Keep to the left lane, keep your speed down. Plus, you know that your tyres are in good shape, and that you learnt to drive in a developed country  where it is often  said that the best drivers fail the stringent driving test a couple of times, before passing and getting a licence.

[ratcatcher]

24 minutes ago, DekDaeng said:

What did the van do wrong?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Exactly! "What DID the van do wrong?  NOTHING!

Actually, properly loaded, with passengers wearing seat belts, the driver rested and alert and driving in a professional manner, there is no problem with the vans. It is the people behind the wheel..

However given the pathetic lack of enforcement by the RTP and the DOT, there will continue to be these tragic crashes (commonly referred to as "accidents'.)

A public service  driver getting behind the wheel in a state of tiredness, intoxication or under influence of narcotics should be considered a crime and both they and the van owners should be culpable, assuming the driver survives.. 

The really sad part of this affair is the two older people in the truck who did absolutely nothing wrong. I guess the same goes for the innocent occupants of the van too.

[Asiantravel]

2 hours ago, Nong Khai Man said:

wHAT'S hAPPENED TO THE supposedly NEW Rules Regarding These " Death Traps " ??

I can tell you  NOTHING has changed and if anything it's got worse!

last Monday I wanted to return to Pattaya from Trat and you can only do so now using one of these ' DEATHTRAPS ".

there are no more big buses travelling this route.

but I would never take a minivan the whole distance from Trat to Pattaya because those images of the minivan bursting into flames and incinerating the passengers last year (on the same route )are still in my mind. So I took a big Bangkok bound bus intending to get off at Rayong and take my chance in a death trap for the last 70 km.

But the bus turned off early and doesn't actually go to Rayong so my next chance to get off was Chonburi.

I was prepared to take my chance in a death trap on that last relatively short leg of the journey.

let me tell you it was one of the worst most scary journeys I can ever remember. The driver was a sheer lunatic speeding, tailgating in very heavy traffic and I honestly thought that was when I was going to die!

these people will never change and it just confirmed my absolute phobia of riding with these maniacs

 

[wvavin]

It's a blessing that the minivan driver is dead so one road menace lesser.

[docshock13]

7 minutes ago, sead said:

Thats army and police prorities. What irritates me more is that no one is demanding changes. The people just accepts that it is how it is. 

Things will change when and ONLY when somebody from Thai "society" loses a child or loved to one of these reckless van drivers. Until then, "the peasants" just have to be grateful they are "allowed" to travel in motorized vehicles. 

[metisdead]

A troll post has been removed as well as the replies. 

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, Nong Khai Man said:

wHAT'S hAPPENED TO THE supposedly NEW Rules Regarding These " Death Traps " ??

They're still using Thai drivers... that's what's happening

same drivers, same rules, same mentality, same carnage 

same headlines 

nothings changed, business as usual in the land of road deaths !!

[brling]

1 hour ago, IMA_FARANG said:

Don't be so quick to blame the driver.

Often they are poorly paid, and they may have a family to feed and school.

The lure of a few more hours of pay sometimes leads them to ignore sleep for money.

 

 

 

Cry me a river, Mr. apologist. Why did the driver not think of his family. Who is going to feed them now. Wise up

[Thaidream]

It will never change until the owners  of the business must follow simple protocols such as paying drivers a living wage; hiring enough drivers rather than forcing drivers to make run after run with little or no sleep; keeping log books to show maintenance and driver's records; following the traffic laws and speed limits; limiting the number of passengers and finally having the authorities actually check they are following the law.

The owners of the business normally never run the business- they hire managers who then force the drivers to disregard any of the above protocols. the majority of the owners are wealthy.  We all know the drill.

[Thaidream]

While the lure of added Baht is certainly there- in many cases- the driver's are fired if they do not work overtime.  It is the owners that bear the real responsibility- 

[gazza4]

4 hours ago, Nong Khai Man said:

wHAT'S hAPPENED TO THE supposedly NEW Rules Regarding These " Death Traps " ??

You know, every school day, more than one mini van full of students, morning and afternoon, drive past my home with side and rear doors wide open.

[Sparkles]

Should we be surprised ? Thailand second in road deaths, per population, after Libya

[gazza4]

.How could I have forgotten to mention this one. Six or seven years ago, my girlfriend and I decided to spend a few days in Hua Him.

Our minivan duly arrived at our Bangkok hotel, and off we trundled. 

We scored the two seats behind the driver. How lucky was this. About halfway to Hua Him I noticed the driver's head starting to droop.

He had started to doze!!

A loud voice and shoulder shaking from me ensured we all reached Hua Him safely

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, NoBrainer said:

Well if these archaic requirements for "Visa Runs" were changed, thesis people would not have needed to be in that Van in the first place. How much energy, fuel, tires, wear & tear on the vehicles, and the roads is totally wasted by making hundreds of thousands of people travel to the countries borders every year. Ridiculous policy causing many deaths each year.

 

Better have them do their turnarounds at the local immigration, and charge accordingly to cover expenses, and make a very good profit.

Post of the month here, I made the exact same points about a year ago when three people were killed in a mini van on

a visa run.

[Artisi]

4 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

why didn't the GPS save everyone?

 

RIP victims of your do nothing police and government.

 

Well the GPS must have worked, only 6 dead -  not all passengers. 

[TKDfella]

R.I.P. to those that died. Not much I can say that hasn't already been said but it really saddens me the, lack of, value Thais put on life. If it isn't the brakes, it's the weather's fault, and if not not those it is falling asleep at the wheel. Find excuses not to do anything and the carnage will continue.

[Get Real]

Falling asleep after being awake all night? There is such an easy way to regulate this.
Make it a rule that nobody can transport people or drive public transport more than 6 hour, unless changing driver.
Means that long transports in minivans must carry two drivers. Ok, the price goes up slightly. It surely saves lifes, though.
Maybe it´s time for the government to ask what is most important.

[sawadee1947]

that is why Thailand ranks always top. I never trust any other driver but myself. And.....I never drive drunk and always have a break after 3 hrs.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed. 

[Catkiwi]

Just bloody sad....again and again and again. Seriously, people are still saying "TIT" like it's something original, get real!!

Only good that came out of this is the fact that there is one less moron driving a van on the roads here.

[Catkiwi]

1 hour ago, Get Real said:

Falling asleep after being awake all night? There is such an easy way to regulate this.
Make it a rule that nobody can transport people or drive public transport more than 6 hour, unless changing driver.
Means that long transports in minivans must carry two drivers. Ok, the price goes up slightly. It surely saves lifes, though.
Maybe it´s time for the government to ask what is most important.

Absolutely there should be more regulation and control but no one of authority here seems to give a flying fox about any of it.

[Italian guy]

6 hours ago, Borzandy said:

" The van driver, Rapipat Sukkit, was killed inside the van" at least justice is done.

He passed from sleep to death without noticing...