A double-decker bus carrying municipal workers on a field trip plunged off a steep road and into a ravine in Tak province, killing at least 30 people and injuring 22 others, on Monday night, officials said on Tuesday.
A double-decker bus carrying municipal workers on a field trip plunged off a steep road and into a ravine, killing at least 30 people and injuring 22 others on Monday night, officials said on Tuesday.
The accident, about 8.40pm, was the latest fatal crash on a mountain road in Tak province known for its treacherous dips and turns where 300 accidents occurred last year, provincial governor Suriya Prasatbunditya said on Tuesday.
The busy road is used by buses and trucks traveling to and from the border with Myanmar.
The driver was trying to pass cars on a winding downhill road when it skidded off the edge and flipped several times as it tumbled about 30 metres into a valley before crashing into a tree, Mr Suriya said, recounting what other drivers who witnessed the accident told police.
The driver, who survived the accident with a broken rib, said he tried to slow down but claimed the brakes stopped working, Mr Suriya said. (continued below)
The wrecked double-decker bus that plunged into a ravine, killing 30 passengers and injuring 22 more, in Tak on Monday night, March 24 2014. (Photo by Assawin Pinijwong)
The bus was one of four carrying local workers and villagers from Tak on a field to the Northeast and to Laos.
"Accidents happen on this road very often," Mr Suriya said.
"We've put warning signs up to caution road users but the accidents keep happening."
Caretaker Transport Minister Chatchart Sittipunt said the accident was the result of careless driving, the condition of the bus, and the winding road.
He said the driver told him that he was giing downhill in low gear and tried to further slow down the bus but the brakes failed and the bus crashed into the side rail and then toppled into the ravine.
Relatives of each dead passenger will receive 350,000 baht death compensation, and the injured will each get 50,000 baht, he said.
Elsewhere, a bus bound for Surat Thani rammed into a pick-up truck in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Muang district early Tuesday afternoon, injuring 15 people.
The Chok Anand Tour bus left the province's southern bus terminal at 9.30am, via the Phetkasem Road.
The accident occurred when a pick-up truck suddenly pulled out and attempted to make a U-turn in front of the vehicle, the bus driver, Kasemwit Sunthorn, 57, told police. He was unable to slow down in time to prevent the bus from ramming into the truck.
The driver of the truck was identified as Chana Chuwongwal, an officer in the Royal Thai Air Force based at Wing 5 in Prachuap Khiri Khan.
The bus and the pickup truck crashed into a roadside ditch. Both drivers escaped injury but a total of 15 people on the bus were injured in the collision.
Last year, more than 8600 people died in accidents on Thailand's roads.
A recent report by the World Health Organization said Thailand recorded 38.1 road deaths per 100,000 people in 2010 -- behind only the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean and the South Pacific island of Niue.
That compares with an average of 18.5 per 100,000 in Southeast Asia as a whole.
At least 13 school children died last month when their bus collided with a lorry on field trip to the beach.
The students, aged 10 to 14 years, were heading to Pattaya from the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima.
Officials say roughly 60% of traffic accidents in Thailand are caused by human error, with poor road and vehicle conditions posing additional hazards.
Alcohol also plays a significant role, particularly during national holidays, when millions of workers return to their homes across the country.
Bus operators are required to provide seat belts but passengers are not legally obliged to use them.
In late December, 29 people were killed when a bus carrying New Year travellers plunged off one of Thailand's highest bridges in Phetchabun’s Lom Sak district.
At least 20 people were killed in October when a tour bus carrying elderly Buddhist devotees fell into a ravine, also in the Northeast.