Thread: Bus driver killed, 47 students and teachers injured in accident in Korat

A driver was killed and 47 students and teachers were injured when their Bangkok-bound bus crashed into the rear of a truck carrying sugarcane, as it was crossing from the in-bound to the outbound lane in Dan Khun Thot district of Nakhon Ratchasima province on Friday night.


Police say that the bus, carrying a large group of young students, aged between 9 and 11, and their teachers, was heading for Bangkok on a study tour.


Police said that a similar accident happened on March 17th last year, when a tour bus, carrying students on another study tour, collided with a car and plunged into a roadside ditch in Sawankhalok district of Sukhothai province. Two students were killed and over 40 others injured.


Such fatal accidents involving students on study or sight-seeing tours have raised questions about the suitability and safety of travelling during the hours of darkness.


According to the guidelines, set out by the Office of the Basic Education Commission, night-time travel by students on study or sight-seeing tours is not permitted. They also stipulate that the routes chosen must be safe, the buses used must be in good working order and the drivers must possess a valid driver’s license and have a good driving record. There must also be two drivers for each bus for rotation, if the journey is to take four hours or longer.


Bus driver killed, 47 students and teachers injured in accident in Korat | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world

Assuming it was the bus drivers fault. Sounds like a truck just moved into their lane…

I can guess the truck carrying the sugarcane didn’t have proper lighting.

Originally Posted by misskit

night-time travel by students on study or sight-seeing tours is not permitted.

School/student night -time travel or at least very early a.m. travel is often the case in these parts. It saves on paying for a night in a hotel and provides for a full day at the destination.

I avoid driving in the dark. The roads up here are not always well lit nor in a decent state of repair. Roadworks are particularly badly lit/signposted. Add drunkenness, speeding and general incompetence and you have a mix fraught with danger.

Originally Posted by misskit

I can guess the truck carrying the sugarcane didn’t have proper lighting.

We'll never know as I'm sure the lorry driver will claim that they were working before the accident.

Originally Posted by misskit

it was crossing from the in-bound to the outbound lane

Is this Ron Dennis speak for doing a U-turn ?

That's what I thought, so I've no idea what willy's on about.

Originally Posted by cyrille

I've no idea what willy's on about.

Nobody ever has any idea what he is on about. He just posts and posts and posts, he is like a deranged AI bot with both autism and dyslexia.

Originally Posted by misskit

I can guess the truck carrying the sugarcane didn’t have proper lighting.

I have ran across a few of these overloaded, lane hogging sugarcane trucks at night. When I used to drive from Korat to Lampang I'd leave after work and I'd dodge these things. On dark roads and the truck overloaded blocking any lights you ride up on them quick when they are doing 40km and you are doing 100. I have dodged a few in my days here.

When I first came to live here the sugarcane lorries were so overloaded that they'd have two people on top of the sugarcane to lift electric cables out of the way.

Those cane trucks you see in Thailand and Laos are usually old trucks modified with high powered engines for pulling the big loads and are structurally build like a tank, a collision with one always results in the cane truck coming out unscathed. They should be banned

I agree BLD. I have walked in the bed of one. They reinforce them things to be almost like an armored tank. They have high powered Turbo diesels only because all the metal they added to carry huge loads weighs the truck down. They should be mandated to only be standard size or only limited to certain distances and only during say 8 to 5. No night time.

But hey, this is Thailand, and in your case Laos, and money is money for every load.

Two words: Defensive Driving.

Originally Posted by Stumpy

They should be mandated to only be standard size or only limited to certain distances and only during say 8 to 5. No night time.

But hey, this is Thailand, and in your case Laos, and money is money for every load.

it is indeed, money to the police om a monthly basis to ensure they can sail through the weigh stations

I've seen a lot of improvement over the years, but there's still a long way to go before Thai roads can be called safe, especially at night.

I wouldn't be surprised if the lorry was moving to the outside lane for the next U-turn. It catches a lot of people out when slow moving traffic suddenly switches over to the fast lane.