Bangkok to Surat Thani bus crashes, 10+ dead, including 5 foreigners

No reports yet in the English press, just this Tweet from MCOT. The death toll has risen since this was posted.

Inter-provincial bus heading to Surat Thani's Ko Pha Ngan, hits electrical pole in Surat Thani, overturns; six dead, including foreign tourists; many injured

วันอังคาร ที่ 03 ก.ค. 2555

Inter-provincial bus heading to Surat Thani's Ko Pha Ngan, hits electrical pole in Surat Thani, overturns; six dead, including foreign tourists; many injured

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However, the Thai press have more details. I'll wait for an English source, not going to translate at length.

However, 10 dead so far, 17 injured, 10 seriously. 27 people on the bus, 24 passengers. 3 staff. It is suspected the driver fell asleep at this stage....bus left Bangkok at 19.30. Destination for this VIP bus was Koh Pha Ngan. No details of the identities or nationalities of the dead as yet.

Lots of photos

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Geez. That bus is smashed to bits.. RIP

This makes bangkok air look like value for money.

International press picking up the story, still nothing from any English language news source here...

Thai tour bus crash kills 10 and injures 17 passengers | News.com.au

Thai tour bus crash kills 10 and injures 17 passengers

• AAP
• July 03, 2012 1:51PM

A TOUR bus heading to a Thai resort island has blown a tyre and crashed into an electricity pole, killing 10 people and wounding 17.

Police Colonel Suriya Nakkaew says the passengers were heading to Koh Samui.

It is believed that five foreign tourists (one male and four female) and four Thai male tourists and the driver were killed, according to local reports from Thailand on Twitter.

The island is popular among Thais and foreign tourists.

Suriya says the crash early on Tuesday in the southern province of Surat Thani killed two Indians.

The other fatalities were Thais, including the driver.

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/interna...cle3597551.ece

2 Indians among 10 killed in Thailand bus accident

AP

Police say a tour bus heading to a Thai resort island blew a tire and crashed into an electricity pole, killing 10 people and wounding 17.

Police Col. Suriya Nakkaew says the passengers were heading to Koh Samui. The island is popular among Thais and foreign tourists.

Mr. Suriya Nakkaew says the crash early Tuesday in the southern province of Surat Thani killed two Indians. The other fatalities were Thais, including the driver.

Obscene RIP the innocent

Quote:

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Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Police say a tour bus heading to a Thai resort island blew a tire and crashed into an electricity pole

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Would a blown tyre cause the bus to veer out of control ? I don't think so

^ It would if he wasn't holding the wheel mate ,, but my guess is after falling asleep he's hit a kerb or similar and the tyre has gone bang ,, probably incidental

[quote=StrontiumDog;2147260]

Quote:

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International press picking up the story,

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Fuck yeah !! :headbang::headbang::rock_dj::rock_dj:This is gonna be the biggest Thailand hate fest yet.

This is the "VIP 99" bus which takes 24 passengers + 3 staff and it is considered to be the safest bus line between Bkk and Samui.
There are always 2 drivers on the bus and they change a couple of times during the trip but that does not help against an exploding tyre.

The deformation suggests this bus was fabricated locally and without regard to the engineering principles and safety standards operating elsewhere in the civilised world.

It's a fact of life often ignored by the press and what may pass as the appropriate authority in Thailand the integrity of these vehicles would mean they would never get a licence to operate in Europe or the US.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kwang

Quote:

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Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Police say a tour bus heading to a Thai resort island blew a tire and crashed into an electricity pole

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Would a blown tyre cause the bus to veer out of control ? I don't think so

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If you blown a front tyre you don't put your foot hard on the brake.
It looks like he has blown the right hand front tyre & jumped on the brake hard. the bus has pulled left end of story.

Or he has fallen a sleep & they are using the blown tyre, to make it look better.

:mid:

Ten dead, 17 injured in Surat Thani bus accident

Ten dead, 17 injured in Surat Thani bus accident

วันอังคาร ที่ 03 ก.ค. 2555

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SURAT THANI, July 3 – Ten persons died and 17 others were injured when an inter-provincial bus carrying Thais and foreign tourists left the road and crashed into an electric power transmission pole Tuesday at dawn.

The driver lost control of the first-class, air-conditioned Transport Co. Ltd vehicle and it crashed into an electric power transmission pole on Surat Thani-Nakhon Si Thammarat Road in Kanchanadit district.

Ten people including the driver and Amit Jain, an Indian, were killed in the crash. Five bodies were unidentified and were sent for autopsies at Surat Thani Hospital.

Another 17 persons including Thais and foreigners were injured and are being treated in local hospitals.

The bus carried 24 passengers, the driver and two bus attendants, leaving Bangkok at 7.50 pm on Monday en route to Phangan Island in the southern province of Surat Thani.

According to the initial investigation, the front right tire burst, causing the driver to lose control and the bus hit the electric pole at full speed.

Electric transmission wires were ripped apart and gas was leaking from the disabled bus. Local authorities cut the electricity, while a responding fire truck stood by at the crash site. (MCOT online news)

Damn, RIP.

^^ Seems the burst tire is now the reason being put forward. The Thai press had suggested the driver had slept.

I don't know about lorries or coaches in Europe, I do know however a lot of cars nowadays especially BMW's are fitted with run-flat tyres that can still be driven at 60 MPH for another 150 miles.

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poor buggers...i,m with the fell asleep crowd side of the fence, tyre probably blew on impact, not that it matters now for the ones that are gone..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kwang

Quote:

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Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Police say a tour bus heading to a Thai resort island blew a tire and crashed into an electricity pole

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Would a blown tyre cause the bus to veer out of control ? I don't think so

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And it's been raining from the early hours of the morning

I see a flat can make a vehicle lose control, especially if the driver is poorly trained and applies the brake

Driving emergency: Tyre blowout, burst tyres

And of course one cannot exclude the likely possibility the tyre had insufficient tread or was a retread.

Poorly maintained buses are a fact of life. Whenever I take them I never look at the tyres. What's the point in worrying? No one gives a toss about safety here.

The number of foreigners who died seems to vary from report to report, all a bit unclear still....

Bangkok Post

10 killed, 17 hurt in bus accident | Bangkok Post: breakingnews

10 killed, 17 hurt in bus accident

• Published: 3/07/2012 at 12:14 PM
• Online news:

Ten people were killed and 17 others injured when a Bangkok - Ko Pha-ngan tour bus skidded off the Surat Thani - Nakhon Si Thammarat highway and rammed into a power post in tambon Takhian Thong of Kanchanadit district in Surat Thani province early Tuesday morning, police said.

Police said the bus left Bangkok at 7.30pm on Monday with 24 passengers and three crew members, bound for Ko Phangan island off Surat Thani. While approaching a village in tambon Takhian Thong at about 5.30am, the bus skidded off the road into a pit on the left in front of a petrol station, rammed into a large power post. The broken post fell over the bus.

Ten people were killed on the spot. They were the driver, a male foreign tourist, five female Thai passengers and three Thai female passengers.

Seventeen other people were injured, most of them seriously.

Police were investigating the cause of the accident.

Hide under your beds, nowhere's safe any more!

Certainly, the idea of a long-distance knackered old bus through the night in the rainy season driven by Thais doesn't quite sound the bargain it no doubt seemed to those "foreigners".

To many just lately few days ago on the same road? I've often wondered about these bus accidents do they have sufficient insurance?

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Originally Posted by FarangRed

do they have sufficient insurance?

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No need to take the piss there FR.

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Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

five female Thai passengers and three Thai female passengers.

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What is the difference between female Thais and Thai females ? Perhaps they were the crew members ?

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Originally Posted by FarangRed

I've often wondered about these bus accidents do they have sufficient insurance?

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For Thailand? Of course they do.