Fatal bus accident in Chumphon

[buksida]

A Bangkok-bound tour bus has overturned on a downhill stretch of highway in Chumphon province, killing the driver and a four-year-old boy.

Police said the fatal accident occurred on Phetkasem road in tambon Tha Sae or Tha Sae district about 2.30am Wednesday.

The bus was found overturned in a ditch separating the opposing lanes, its windshield and front end smashed in.

Police said 13 Thai and eight foreign passengers suffered cuts from broken glass and concussions from falling belongings. They were promptly taken to nearby hospital and most had already been released.

The bus driver was found stuck in the wreckage. Emergency workers spent more than 30 minutes cutting through the twisted metal wreckage to pull him out. He was later identified as Paisarn Varasin, 50, a Pathum Thani native. Mr Paisarn suffered a severe head injury and body wounds. Attempts to resuscitate him failed and he died at the scene.

Four-year-old Jirawat Photibata was also found dead in the wreckage.

Police said the bus left Phuket on Tuesday evening bound for Bangkok. The bus driver was said to be travelling at speed when he saw an accident about 200 metres ahead involving a 10-wheel truck and a pickup truck. He apparently panicked and swerved the bus into the ditch.

Source: BK Post

[lindosfan1]

Police said the bus left Phuket on Tuesday evening bound for Bangkok. The bus driver was said to be travelling at speed when he saw an accident about 200 metres ahead involving a 10-wheel truck and a pickup truck. He apparently panicked and swerved the bus into the ditch.

The driver panicked at the sight of an accident 200 metres ahead. Plenty of time to stop, travelling on these buses is IMO a dangerous pastime I have never used them. The basic incompetence of the driver led to the death of a young child. Any bus driver should have to take an advanced driving test to prove they have the driving skills and commonsense to drive buses. Training is needed.

[deepee]

Surprised the driver had 200mts line of sight in the dark as that area is pretty rugged with winding roads as it descends out of the Phuket Range down towards Chumpon proper.
In an emergency you have little choice but to either head off into the very deep gutters or go the other way and a drop away down into an apparent bottomless ravine. It's an area I usually feel pretty uncomfortable traveling through on public transport at best of times let alone at 2am too.
In their usual style the drivers still seem to tank around the place as if they were on a rally car race track .
RIP the little kid.

[Frank Hovis]

The basic incompetence of the driver led to the death of a young child.

That's an incredible deduction Sherlock.
Given that the driver died at the scene it is probably fair to assume that he didn't give his account of the accident to police or reporters, he might have just as easily have saved peoples lives by not going off the other side of the road; we will never know and there's no need to play judge, jury and executioner from the comfort of your sofa.

[buksida]

5 killed as bus overturns in Chumphon
Five passengers were killed and 38 others injured when a Bangkok-Chumphon bus ran off the highway and overturned in Chumphon's Tha Sae district early Wednesday morning.

Pol Lt Sonthaya Thaipradith, duty officer at tambon Salui police station, said the accident occurred about 3.45am on the Petchakasem highway between kilometre markers No 463-464 in Chumphon’s Tha Sae district.

The bus overturned in the right lane of the southern bound highway and was severely damaged. Police called to the scene said the bodies of five dead passengers were lying on the road.

They were identified as Phaithoon Phatthong, 54, Apinand Butpanya, 24, Krikchai Kowprecha, 40, and a Thai woman and a female foreigner whose names were not known.

Police and rescue workers took 38 injured passengers, five of them foreigners in critical condition, to Tha Sae hospital. The foreign passengers, four males and one female, were later transferred to Chumphon hospital.

The accident had caused a traffic jam more than one kilometre long as all southern bound vehicles were forced to use only the left lane of the highway.

Witnesses told police that the bus was heading south into Chumphon’s Langsuan district. It ran off the highway at a curve and slammed into a roadside tree before overturning. The five pasengers who were killed were thrown from the bus onto the road surface.

Police were questioning the bus driver, Kamron Laila-iad, 34, about the accident.

Mr Kamron was initially charged with driving in negligence leading to the accident and causing death of other people.

Souce: BK Post

[caller]

I know its too much to expect really, but why are there no calls for improved safety, or even someone examining the cause of so many accidents? These repeated incidents just seem a way of life (and death) in Thailand.

[kendo]

Maybe the introduction of a stricter driving test, speed limiters and tachograph to record speed and drivers hours would be a vast improvement.

Maybe i am just blue sky dreaming that would be far to logical.

Kendo.

[Bristolian]

I am not familiar with the stretch of road where this happened but a general observation of all busses is that they should not be permitted to use the 3rd lane on a highway. It encourages faster moving traffic to undertake. When they are in convoy, sometimes with a police escort, other drivers will undertake and then need to move back into the 3rd lane to overtake slower cars, forcing the bus to brake sharply. I am really surprised that there are not more accidents involving busses.

As Kendo has said, the introduction of a stricter driving test, speed limiters and tachograph to record speed and driver’s hours would be a vast improvement. I would add to that regular testing for alcohol and drugs

[usual suspect]

I think it's very easy for us ex-pats, who have come from a country with rules & laws to help maintain safety on the roads to be critical...the simple thing to remember here is This is Thailand, & like many other Asian countries LIFE IS CHEAP..& road-death is part of daily life here.
Not trying to change the subject to much, but what is the point of instaling CCTV cameras at traffic lights/junctions etc..?? EVERYBODY seems to fly thru' intersections on a red light, do U-turns, sit there when the light turns to green..due to an important phone conversation..Does ANY of these offenders EVER get prosecuted? Nah! Ho-Hum eh.

[Pleng]

sit there when the light turns to green..due to an important phone conversation..

I have to say I have *never* seen this one in Thailand. Regardless of how many phones the driver has to his or her ear, doesn't seem to stop them impatiently creeping further into the middle of the road, and speeding off at the obligatory 3 seconds before the lights actually go green!

[dtaai-maai]

I have to say I've seen some pretty shocking driving from expats too.

[Big Boy]

sit there when the light turns to green..due to an important phone conversation..

I have to say I have *never* seen this one in Thailand. Regardless of how many phones the driver has to his or her ear, doesn't seem to stop them impatiently creeping further into the middle of the road, and speeding off at the obligatory 3 seconds before the lights actually go green!

I was megga embarrassed a couple of days ago just North of Khon Kaen when Mrs BB decided that she needed a flower for the car. We were about 20 seconds into the green light before the transaction was complete. Amazingly, the drivers behind us at the lights just sat patiently while the transaction was taking place.

[PeteC]

^ You're lucky I wasn't behind you in this.

mt.jpg (9.51 KiB) Viewed 859 times

[Nereus]

I have to say I've seen some pretty shocking driving from expats too.

I had a Thai lady complaining about Farang drivers in Hua Hin just yesterday. I have never driven with her, but she goes back and forth to Phetchaburi and Bangkok on a regular basis without coming to grief.

Her main complaint was excessive use of the car horn and speeding, in Hua Hin. Not sure how she knows that the offenders are Farang, given that most cars have dark window tinting.
But, yes I agree to some extent. It seems to be that some Farangs just copy what the Thais are doing, where they should be displaying their superior skills and training.

[PeteC]

No one should really use the horn unless an extreme case. That is unless you want to be looking down a barrel of a gun. Pete