NAKHON SAWAN - The driver was killed and 17 passengers injured when a Bangkok-bound interprovincial bus ran off the road and into a canal in Banphot Phisai district in the early hours of Tuesday.
The crash occurred between kilometre markers 36-37 on Highway 117, the Nakhon Sawan-Phitsanulok route, around 2.45am, a duty officer at Banphot Phisai police station said.
All the passengers managed to escape the overturned bus before it was flooded.
A total of 17 passengers were injured, 12 of them seriously with broken legs and arms. Rescue workers immediately sent them to two nearby hospitals.
The driver of the bus, who was not identified, died in the crash and his body remained trapped in the wreckage, in murky metre-deep water, as of late Tuesday morning.
Police said the bus was carrying 28 passengers and travelling from Nan to Bangkok. It ran off the road and into the canal.
Yot Wannachon said later that most of the other passengers were sleeping, only to be woken up as the bus started shaking before it plunged into the canal. Some passengers began panicking, but he found the emergency hammer and began smashing open the windows, Thai media reported.
They all managed to get out before the water poured in.
Police suspect the driver fell asleep at the wheel. The investigation was continuing.