19 killed on VIP bus crash between Bkk and Roi Et

[Nirish guy]

There by the grace go all of us who ever travel on Thailand's roads :-(



Nineteen people have been killed in a collision between a bus and a lorry in central Thailand, reports say.

At least 20 more people were injured in the incident, which took place in Saraburi province early on Tuesday.

The double-decker tour bus - which was travelling from Bangkok to Roi Et in the north-east - burst into flames after the collision.

It was not immediately known how many people were on board the bus. A police investigation is now under way.

All of those who died were on the bus, Thai newspaper the Nation said.

The accident happened around 05:00 local time (22:00 GMT) when the lorry veered across the road and hit the bus, the Bangkok Post said.

"The truck crossed from the opposite lane of traffic and hit the bus," said local police officer Lieutenant Colonel Assavathep Janthanari, according to AFP news agency.

Police have arrested the lorry driver, reports say.

A pick-up truck behind the bus was also reportedly involved in the collision.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23414904

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[francois]

In a separate accident in Roi-Et, involving a pickup and a bus, two members of my bf's family, an uncle and cousin, were killed two days ago. As I understand, a head-on collision but apparently no other observers to report the circumstances.

[newalaan2]

There by the grace go all of us who ever travel on Thailand's roads :-(

That crash is truly awful. I am one of those who regularly drives around Thailand roads and the Saraburi by-pass is one I travel a lot and rely on grace quite a bit. The main carriageway around the Saraburi area which is the main artery from Issan to Bkk is a very wide one so that must have been some wild detour by the truck.

Buses and trucks are the one's I look out for all the time, buses can fly up behind you at over 100 kph and you just gotta get out of the way, I change lanes long before they get near me, trucks never give way and you've got to read situations, but one of the reasons I prefer to drive myself is that I am in control. I even hate the driving of Thai friends, they think nothing of overtaking blind and just creating a third 'lane' in the middle of the road, also they drive way too close to vehicles in front of them, I much prefer to be in the driving seat. I've seen tons of close shaves but never been involved myself, given the amount of vehicles on the main arterial roads, the speed some of them go in terrible driving conditions and the awful driving skills I am really amazed I don't see a lot more accidents.

There is absolutely no politeness as on Euro roads, just selfish aggression when I comes to 'give way' situations. Definitely the brand and size of your vehicle decides priority. In the UK someone pushing in with a high end car will get the opposite consideration from other drivers. But as you are a visitor to their country you've just got to go along with it as best you can. But one notable difference is that if someone cuts you up or you them it's normally a smile which is the reaction, in the Uk its a guaranteed middle finger and road rage.

[Nirish guy]

Yeah truly awful, just watching it on TV, shocking, it looks like the passengers hasn't a chance as there must have been some sort of fire ball effect. I remember when I was on a VIP bus to Nakhon Sawan and I put my seat belt on ( which rarely do on a bus but as it was Thailand I figured it was a good idea) but I noticed several people looking at me like "WHAT are you bothering with that for" - although I guess in this sad case it wouldn't have made much difference and in fact may well have hindered your possible escape perhaps even !

You would wonder when you see images like this all the time on the raid that the Thais don't take more care ( of their own lives if nothing else) but maybe that's the whole Buddhist thing kicking in oh "well if today's my day that's it then and there's nothing I can do to change that" or "I'm ok, I made merit at the temple last night so I DEFINITELY won't have an accident today as I made sure to rub my wee relic that's hanging on the mirror as I got into the van" - I'm not quite sure where that leaves the rest of us none Buddhists though on the receiving end of their bad driving !! :-(

[billy2bs]

I can attest to the frightening mode of travel on the Thai highways. I went from the Bkk airport to Pattaya in just about an hour it seemed. I watched the speedometer of the driver which he held at a constant 150-165 kmph weaving in and around vehicles. This is in the dark of night also. I never even drive my own car at these speeds in USA(100 mph). Fortunately I did not die on that trip or I would have been sooooo pissed off. I sure dont trust those big double high buses and over piled pick up trucks. I could not drive in Thailand anyways since I cannot get accostome to the opposite side driving. Beside who ever thought of doing that anyways, being that autos were developed here in USA?

[jinks]

I cannot get accustomed to the opposite side driving.

Not opposite side really = You drive on the Right Side - We (the British) and the +list and Thais drive on the CORRECT side of the road.

Napoleon changed France and Europe, You bought into the right side driving with the Louisiana Purchase up until then the US drove on the correct side.


+
Anguilla
Antigua & Barbuda
Australia
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Bermuda
Bhutan
Botswana
British Virgin Islands
Brunei
Cayman Islands
Channel Islands
Cyprus
Dominica
Eire-Ireland
England
Falkland Islands
Fiji
Grenada
Guyana
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Isle of Man
Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Lesotho
Macau
Malawi
Malaysia
Malta
Mauritius
Montserrat
Mozambique
Namibia
Nepal
New Zealand
Northern Ireland
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Seychelles
Scotland
Singapore
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Sri Lanka
St Kitts & Nevis
St. Helena
St. Lucia
Surinam
Swaziland
Tanzania
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
Uganda
US Virgin Islands
Zambia
Zimbabwe
St. Vincent & Grenadines

[Smiles]

Jinks ... how come Thailand is not on that list?
Perhaps the Thais themselves are 'not-quite-sure', thus turmoil and danger.

Oh yes, and of course BillyBoy already knows this (his last sentence being a naughty wind-up), but the first automobile was built in Germany not the USA.
Here it is, the first, in it's glory: The 3-wheel version ... [attachment=1:1hjh9jf2]1885Benz.jpg[/attachment:1hjh9jf2]

And then the 4-wheeler a year later:

[jinks]

the +list and Thais drive on the CORRECT side of the road.

Looking for putdowns without reading first, showing your age old man.

[Dodger]

This is tragic no doubt, although not suprising considering the way many Thais drive...the condition of the roads...and lack of enforcement of safety standards.

According to the statistics that Thailand reports on driving fatalities, 74% are attributed to motorbike accidents...which again is something I don't find surprising having driven a motorbike for years in LOS, but that's still a whopping high percentage. I'm sure that the greatest portion of this percentage results from people (almost always Thais drivers from what I've observed) passing traffic on the wrong lane which not only compromises the safety of on-coming traffic but the drivers they are passing illegally as well, and of course speeding and those driving under the influence of alchohal and/or drugs. Also, the motorbike safety helmuts that the majority of people wear (Thai and farang drivers) are cheap, poorly designed and would not pass even the most minimal of safety standards. Wearing a helmut is better than not wearing one as long as the driver invested in a good helmut which the majority do not.

Another key factor that I see is the Thais style of driving which is "Me First". I went to the Kashikorn Bank at Big C Extra one day during my previous trip and arrived 20 minutes before the bank opened. Several farang shoppers showed up outside the bank doors and took their place in line behind me as one would expect. A few minutes later Thais started showing up and instead of taking their place at the rear of the line opted to squeeze themselves between where I was standing and the doors of the bank. Not one showed the least bit of concern for this. I remember my father telling me once when I was young that you can tell a persons personality by the way they drive. He was right, and I could tell you exactly how the Thais who were forcing their way in front of me that day at the bank drive their vehicles. So I'm going to add "cultural influences" to the list of leading causes of driving fatalities.

Some tips for farang motorbike drivers:

Invest in a good safety helmut. The ones they give you for free when you buy a motorbike are designed to fit on a perfectly round basketball - not a human head, and they'll shatter on impact creating more safety risk if you were to have an accident.

Don't apply the same linear driving habits that you do back home where you focus on what's in front of you and occasionally look in the rear view mirror. You have to constantly be aware of all moving objects in the circle around you and remember that there are no rules.

Never ever make a right-hand turn before checking to see if a driver is passing you on your right side. Having your turn signal on makes absolutely no difference to the average Thai driver.

Avoid (or minimize) driving your motorbike at night time due to the increase in alchohal and drug imparred drivers.

If your hopping on the back of a motorcy with a Thai motorcy driver take a look at him first. If his eyes are red...if he's acting goofy, or you smell alchohal do not hire him as your driver. If the driver is driving too fast (most do) don't hesitate to tell him to "cha cha" (slow down). If he doesn't, then tell him to pull over to the curb. Tip him 20 baht and walk away.

The thing which amazes me the most is that I've never seen a people who rush so fast to get somewhere where they're inevitablky going to be late.

[Halfhansum]

Terrible tragedy ....
But do you think that bus journeys are generally fairly safe, given the thousands of routes covered every day ?
I did an overnight trip from Khon Kaen to Pattaya, and felt safe enough , although being dark i couldn't see much . lol
Also if the truck veered across the road, sounds like there wasn't much the bus could do about it ...