A rail trip by State Railway of Thailand (SRT) governor Prapat Chongsanguan to show off the safety of the reopened northern track, following major repairs after a spate of derailments, instead became a huge embarassment on Monday when the train carrying him derailed in Lamphun.
A train carrying railway chief Prapat Chongsanguan jumps off the track on Monday. (State Railway of Thailand Photo)
The Nakhon Ping express train bound for Chiang Mai jumped off the track shortly before arriving at Lamphun station at 9.30am.
Mr Prapat and SRT executives were in the last car, the only carriage which derailed.
The train left Hua Lamphong station at 7.35pm on Sunday and was supposed to snake into the final destination in Chiang Mai at 9.55am on Monday.
The train sustained some damage in the derailment, but all passengers were safe and unhurt.
The accident came the day after after SRT reopened the closed section of the northern route between Sila At station in Uttaradit and Chiang Mai on Sunday.
This section of the rail track had been closed for repairs following frequent rail accidents over 75 days starting Sept 16. The SRT spent 2.8 billion baht replacing sleepers, and repairing tunnels, bridges and the rails on the 260km stretch.
The SRT held a press conference at Hua Lamphong on Sunday to announce the reopening of the route, which has been very popular with tourists, before the governor's train departed.
"The governor and executives took train trips to test the track from Sila At to Chiang Mai from Nov 28 to 30 to ensure the line was safe, before the normal service resumed,'' SRT spokeswoman Nuan-anong Wongchan said in a press release.
Mr Prapat had promised to step down if the northern line had an accident after it was repaired and improved.
Instead, the governor said after the derailment on Monday that the accident was due to human error, and not related to the work done to repair the tracks.
"The problem did not involve the refurbished track. It was due to the Lamphun station master switching the rail track points too soon," he said.
"The accident could affect travellers' confidence," he admitted, but at least no passengers were injured or died.
The rail track was shunted to clear the path for another waiting train, from Chiang Mai, to leave the station.
Mr Prapat said he ordered all station masters to be more careful and ensure the accident is not repeated at other stations.
As for the Lamphun station master, the governor said he had already been shunted to another position due to his reckless action and violation of SRT regulations.
State Railway of Thailand (SRT) governor Prapat Chongsanguan greets passengers in a train. (State Railway of Thailand Photo)