Glasseye Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 Pretty ugly mates. Safe journeys.... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67621798 Thailand: Bus crash kills 14 and splits vehicle in half 5th December 2023, 01:47 GMT+7 Share By Kelly Ng & Jonathan Headin Singapore and Bangkok Sawang Prachuap Dhammasathan Foundation Thailand has one of the highest rate of road deaths in the world Fourteen people have died in Thailand after a double-decker bus veered off the road and smashed into a tree. Photos online show the bus leaning on its side and its front split in half, with parts of the tree wedged in it. Thirty-two others were injured following the crash in Prachuap Khiri Khan, a coastal province in the country's south. Thailand has one of the world's highest road accident rates, leading to thousands of deaths every year. Many attribute this to poor safety standards on the country's busy roads. In 2022 alone, 15,000 people lost their lives on Thailand's roads, according to the country's Road Accidents Data Centre. In the UK, which has a slightly lower population, that number stands at 1,700. In 2021, traffic-related incidents made up almost a third of total deaths in the country, the World Health Organization said. Life and death on Thailand's lethal roads The cause of Monday night's crash has not been confirmed, but police suspect the driver may not have had enough sleep, AFP reported. He was badly injured but survived. Authorities are also checking his blood alcohol levels, the news agency said. Police are still verifying the identities of those who died from the crash. Prachuap Khiri Khan is popular among tourists for its beaches, caves and hiking trails. Sawang Prachuap Dhammasathan Foundation The collision split the front of the bus into two, with parts of the tree wedged in it Rescuers spent "several hours" pulling the dead and the wounded out of the bus, said the Sawang Prachuap Dhammasathan Foundation, which supported the operation. Pictures posted on the foundation's Facebook account showed more than a dozen rescuers attempting to remove the tree which was pressing on the bus. Some smashed the vehicle's windows open with a hammer. The number of fatalities has fallen in the past three years, but Thailand is still ranked in the top 10 worst countries for road safety. Despite this, there is little public demand for improved safety, and the issue rarely arises during election campaigns. Some have attributed this to the fact that most of the victims - more than 70% of fatalities - are motorbike riders, typically among the poorest sectors of society, and most occur on rural roads. Helmet-wearing is almost universally unenforced in Thailand, unlike in neighbouring Vietnam and Indonesia, and alcohol is often a cause of the accidents. Governments in Thailand are more often swayed by campaigns backed by wealthier urban residents. Roads in Thailand are good enough to drive fast on, but often poorly lit and marked, making accidents more likely. Speeding is only very occasionally penalised, the fines are low, and often not collected at all. It is also rare for Thai drivers to be disqualified from driving. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom51red Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 Very sad,I see these buses come through hua hin all the time picking up passengers no doubt heading to surat thani or somewhere,sleep depravity seems to be hand in hand with bus driving in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glasseye Posted December 7, 2023 Author Share Posted December 7, 2023 11 minutes ago, Phantom51red said: Very sad,I see these buses come through hua hin all the time picking up passengers no doubt heading to surat thani or somewhere,sleep depravity seems to be hand in hand with bus driving in Thailand. The short routes I can handle from time to time. But, I will never take a long route on one of those. Unfortunately so many folks don't have the options I do. And.... humans are humans. When driving long hours, anything can happen. We've all been there. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butch Posted December 9, 2023 Share Posted December 9, 2023 Back in 95 I took a bus from Had Yai to BKK. Never again. Getting on board I noticed a youngish guy in the drivers seat, sipping a coffee. Half way through the journey we stopped off at a Thai roadside place where they had food ready , then 30 mins later we got back on, then through to Morchit. When I got off, the same young guy was in the drivers seat. Now, Had Yai to BKK is the thick end of 1000km. That's insane, the guy drove for about 13 hours or so with only a couple of piss breaks and a half hour snooze at some roadside set up. I'm surprised there aren't more accidents tbh. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glasseye Posted December 10, 2023 Author Share Posted December 10, 2023 12 hours ago, Butch said: Back in 95 I took a bus from Had Yai to BKK. Never again. Getting on board I noticed a youngish guy in the drivers seat, sipping a coffee. Half way through the journey we stopped off at a Thai roadside place where they had food ready , then 30 mins later we got back on, then through to Morchit. When I got off, the same young guy was in the drivers seat. Now, Had Yai to BKK is the thick end of 1000km. That's insane, the guy drove for about 13 hours or so with only a couple of piss breaks and a half hour snooze at some roadside set up. I'm surprised there aren't more accidents tbh. For almost thirty years I took on average three car trips from the Chicago area to the Raleigh NC area to visit family. Typical travel time (including breaks) averaged 14 hours. I can only remember twice stopping for an overnight hotel stay, and that was because of bad weather. In my younger years I enjoyed driving basically. Then later I discovered how awful big city communiting is. Getting away from that was probably the number one reason I relocated. Those routes that go through Eastern Kentucky/Tenn. or down through the West Virginia/Virginia offered some great scenic views. But after a few times, same same.... Whatever route I took rquired driving through mountainous sections, at times could be treacherous. There were some trips I remember driving through rain the entire time. But, I absolutely agree with you thirteen hours straight is not a good idea. Yet, some people can get drowsy after an hour. When you think about it a much higher percentage of drivers in general have some sort of issue - impaired by some kind of substance (legal or not), distracted by others in the vehicle, vision and/or hearing disability, various medical conditions that can cause judgement issues, the list goes on. Over here the list goes through the roof. I rarely observe any enforcement (unless an occassional checkpoint in the center of the city). Some of them drive like complete lunatics. I am fairly good at judging the speed a vehicle is traveling. But, there are days when I am stunned at how quickly some cars approach. For me it is one of the greatest of lifes mysteries. That being.... how in the fcuk there aren't more accidents ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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