One killed and 30 elderly passengers injured in double decker’s accident

[webfact]

One killed and 30 elderly passengers injured in double decker’s accident

By Thai PBS

 

 

One people was killed and 30 elderly tourists from Bangkok were injured, one of them in serious condition, when a double-decker tour bus in which they were travelling on its way back to Bangkok flipped on one side after the driver lost control of the vehicle following brake failure.

 

The tour bus were in one of the three double deckers on a sight-seeing tour in Petchabun province which took all of them to Wat Pa Phu Tap Berk and Wat That Pa Sonkaew and spent one night at a resort in Khao Khor.

 

The elderly tourists were on their way back to Bangkok, but as the three double deckers were descending from the mountain, one of them developed brake failure and could not slow down.

 

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/one-killed-30-elderly-passengers-injured-double-deckers-accident/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2017-11-13

[Damrongsak]

Brake failure?  Brain failure?  Hard to discern the difference. 

[davehowden]

Shift down a gear, mmmmm, I loose face if I do that !

[kotsak]

Not sure if the "brake failure" excuse has become more common than the "sick buffalo" one.

[George Bowman]

If memory serves me correct wasn't there a ban of some sort ordered  last year in regards to these double-decker buses.

[observer90210]

And the last visit to a garage of the bus was in the 20th century ?

 

(RIP and a fast recovery to all)

[Cadbury]

The excuse of brake failure is probably correct. Wouldn't surprise if they throw the gears into neutral at the top of the hill thinking they will save a bit of fuel on then downhill run and then ride the brakes so hard until they completely fade. Bingo! Brake failure.

Brain failure would be a more apt description of the cause of the accident. 

[Bob12345]

Break failure?

 

Time to tow the bus to the police station, get some engineers to take the break compartment apart, and based on the results either the driver or the person responsible for maintenance goes to jail.

 

I am getting tired of this excuse with never seeing a follow up or further investigation.

[Jeremy50]

Top heavy buses largely made of wood in  Thai workshops. All that ridiculous styling doesn't hide the fact that they are weak and unstable vehicles, and far too tall. They wouldn't be allowed anywhere near a European road.

[ChrisY1]

1 hour ago, davehowden said:

Shift down a gear, mmmmm, I loose face if I do that !

Quite a lot of these buses are automatic....clutches burn out here quite quickly....but they should all be fitted with "Jake" (engine) brakes...I don't think I've ever heard a truck use them...

[dotpoom]

RIP the deceased and hopefully a speedy recovery for the injured.

[Boon Mee]

No way in Hell would you get me to ride in those busses. 

[NCC1701A]

"One of the passengers, 72-year old Nopadol Jensilanukul, said the driver told the passengers to jettison as he tried to slow down the descending bus, but none heeded his word because they were all in panic."

 

A new excuse! The passengers are to blame for not jumping off the bus.

[colinneil]

Biggest problem when driving in the mountains is, many drivers do not change down the gears.

They start down the mountain in a high gear, and use the brakes excessively, resulting in the brakes over heating, then failing.

I saw it m,any times when we lived in the mountains.

Improper driver training is to blame, you get drivers not used to mountain roads, and dont know how to drive on them.

[thailand49]

Majority of these buses are now automatics, majority I believe looking at the dashboard they are equipped with air brakes. 

I serious doubt any of them have any idea what the gauges are for but there is a standard procedure how to 5 steps test the brakes before the vehicle is moves. Education requires you also know how to adjust the air pods.

Lack of education, lack of enforcement and lack of maintenance.

Several years ago there was a similar accident a outcry!  result was the buses modified illegally in height causing the tip overs, they blame the driver for going to fast around the corner?

I see these double deck buses sometimes 3 or more coming off Hwy 7, to Pattaya they are all in violation of a simple driving law " Tailgating " each other with police escort.

[quandow]

This has become very similar to gun deaths in 'Murica. It happens so often any more, we've become almost completely desensitized to what SHOULD be filling us with outrage. These are ALL PREVENTABLE DEATHS!

[RichardColeman]

brakes obviously came down with hypothermia

[metisdead]

3 minutes ago, Get Real said:

On people killed??? I wonder what race that was eliminated?
I guess it should have been one person. Can somebody please proofread things for publication before publish. It´s starting to show total lack of competence.

 

Original articles, especially in the Thai press, often have grammatical mistakes or misspellings. ThaiVisa is not responsible for these nor does ThaiVisa have the rights to alter content it is reprinting from another source. Similarly, ThaiVisa is not responsible for any opinions reflected  or quoted in reprinted news stories.

 

If you would like to contact the publisher of this article to make your complaint, you can contact them here:  http://www2.thaipbs.or.th/contact.php

[Old Croc]

From the linked article:

 

"However, the driver tried to control the bus until it climbed up an uphill road. As the bus lost its power and started to reverse, the driver tried to slow the vehicle down by squeezing one side it to the roadside barrier until it flipped on one side in the middle of the road at the Namchoon 

One of the passengers, 72-year old Nopadol Jensilanukul, said the driver told the passengers to jettison as he tried to slow down the descending bus, but none heeded his word because they were all in panic.

Two bus assistants however jumped out and tried unsuccessfully to stop the bus with a wooden block."

I wonder if the wooden block under a wheel caused it to flip?

 

[electric]

1 hour ago, Jeremy50 said:

Top heavy buses largely made of wood in  Thai workshops. All that ridiculous styling doesn't hide the fact that they are weak and unstable vehicles, and far too tall. They wouldn't be allowed anywhere near a European road.

 

With respect, the above post simply wrong. These large tour coaches are a complete steel skeleton fabrication. Marine grade ply wood is often used as the floor base only, prior to vinyl or carpet overlay.

 

Europe has many double deck tour coaches of similiar dimension to Thai coaches. Check out Setra (Daimler) as an example. Big factory in Bavaria. 

 

1 hour ago, ChrisY1 said:

Quite a lot of these buses are automatic....clutches burn out here quite quickly....but they should all be fitted with "Jake" (engine) brakes...I don't think I've ever heard a truck use them...

 

Virtually all modern tour coach chassis with auto gearboxes are fitted with retarders as standard. The retarder works by limiting the gearbox, not exhaust. They are incredibly efficient, safe and quiet, when used by a driver who knows his vehicle.

 

Jacobs Exhaust Brakes (Jake) were noisy as hell when used with 2 stroke diesel engines, such as the old Detroits. All coach-truck  engines are now 4 stroke. Emission laws killed the 2 strokes some 20 years ago, so it would be rare to hear the wonderful "cackle" of a Jake brake equipped vehicle coming down a hill.

 

I agree with many posters. Brake failure may have been the cause of this accident at the bottom of the hill, but presumeably, the brakes were fine before the descent. ie at the top of the hill.

 

Unfortunately, this points the finger (a curious Thai affliction) at the driver making some poor decisions.

 

 

[Get Real]

17 minutes ago, metisdead said:

 

Original articles, especially in the Thai press, often have grammatical mistakes or misspellings. ThaiVisa is not responsible for these nor does ThaiVisa have the rights to alter content it is reprinting from another source. Similarly, ThaiVisa is not responsible for any opinions reflected  or quoted in reprinted news stories.

 

If you would like to contact the publisher of this article to make your complaint, you can contact them here:  http://www2.thaipbs.or.th/contact.php

Okey! Thanks for the information. My opinion still stands. If somebody have any regards for thier reputation, then they see to that they have the possibility to be responsible for the content on thier website. Otherwise they have made up a really bad contract. Just my opinion voiced in a forum just for doing that.

[TKDfella]

'One people was killed...' fortunate that we expats understand eh? My condolences to the family of the dead person.

[Borzandy]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

following brain failure

Again and again ....

[Cranky]

I'd love to know how someone, other than Usain Bolt, could jump off a moving bus and get in front of it to put a lump of wood in the way to stop it?

[djayz]

I see the promised "stricter road safety measures" are reducing road accidents and deaths already. Only one killed this time (RIP) and one seriously injured (a swift recovery). 

A big round of applause for the new measures. 

 

 

 

[Old Croc]

28 minutes ago, Cranky said:

I'd love to know how someone, other than Usain Bolt, could jump off a moving bus and get in front of it to put a lump of wood in the way to stop it?

Read the link again.

[natway09]

It has got a lot to do with the grey matter between the ears.

Almost impossible task to teach these Thai macho idiots.

Bet he was trying to beat the other two.

[SpicyMeatball]

Brake failure.

Driver :  “I noticed that when I left the bus depot”.

[SunsetT]

I see no mountain or steep road. I only see a slightly down hill straight road seeming to start to go slightly uphill where the accident happened. If the brakes failed the driver only had to keep going straight using gears to slow down and lose momentum until the bus stopped. Maybe he/she swerved attempting to avoid hitting slower vehicles in front.

[metisdead]

Grammar police posts have been removed.