Bus crash injures 15 near Lampang
A bus traveling between Bangkok and Chiang Mai went off the road and plunged into a creek this morning, injuring 15 passengers who were on board.
The accident occurred at 04:29 this morning on the Phaholyothin Road in Tambon Thoneburi of Thoen district, near Lampang, just south of Chiang Mai.
The driver of the air conditioned bus, 38-year-old Krissana Nathungkham fled the scene and was not available for police questioning. The police, however, suspect that the driver fell asleep at the wheel of the bus. The bus then crashed through the railing of a bridge and fell into the creek below.
Although four passengers were severely injured in the accident, there were no deaths reported.
In 2003, there were 91,623 accidents on the roads of Thailand which resulted in the death of 13,209 people. Many of these accidents involved buses.
A study conducted by Associate professor Pichai Taneerananon and civil engineer Opan Somchainuek found that most bus accidents involved a single bus, most often overturning. In 82.3% of the cases they studied, they found that errant bus drivers were the main contributing factor to the crash. In most cases, speeding caused the accidents, however falling asleep was also an unsettlingly common occurrence.
There are many ways to travel in Thailand including low cost flights operated by airlines such as Air Asia and 1-2-Go, which serve an increasingly large part of the country. Most trains, particularly overnight trains are very comfortable. Finally, most bus routes which offer overnight buses also have a bus operating during the day.