News Forum - 1 tourist killed, 8 wounded in crash while on tour of Chiang Mai mountain

[Thaiger]

A tourist was killed and eight others were wounded in a van crash yesterday will travellers were on a tour of Doi Ang Khang mountain in northern Chiang Mai. Around 10am, the 15-seater Toyota van crashed while going down a turn on a mountain road in the Fang district, skidding off the road and into a ditch, according to the regional police chief, Pol Col Sanchai Panichkul. 39 year old Theera Promree, who had come from Samut Prakan, which is southeast of Bangkok was driving the van on a tour of the mountain when the vehicle skidded off the road […]

The story 1 tourist killed, 8 wounded in crash while on tour of Chiang Mai mountain as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Easterneye]

Stand by for the generic “   Brake failure “  nonsense to be trotted out by the defendant 

[AussieBob]

53 minutes ago, Easterneye said:

Stand by for the generic “   Brake failure “  nonsense to be trotted out by the defendant 

Better than the one I heard the other day - "she must have seen me, I dont know why she did not stop".  Said by a truck driver that drove out of a petrol garage driveway on to a road, after he drove over a girl riding her bike on the road and killed her. Unbelievable. That would be manslaughter here - maybe even negligent homicide.

[ThailandRyan]

Could the road have been covered in Black Ice...

[NCC1701A]

is wounded the correct word to use here? 

[El_Trauco]

Most likely brake (maintenance) failure.

[HolyCowCm]

You never want to trust your life with most of all of the majority of these wanna be hot shot van drivers. Fastest way to poo your pants or lose your life or a limb.

[Griff1315]

Some of these mini bus drivers have the same skill set as Max Verstappen where anything goes..

[King Cotton]

2 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

is wounded the correct word to use here? 

Driving in Thailand is a battle . . . isn't it? 

[Convert54]

2 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

is wounded the correct word to use here? 

War zone out there!

[Mazz11]

A group of us had a driver taking us from Bangkok to Buriram for the MotoGP in a minibus.

We nicknamed him Alonso

[Cabra]

1 hour ago, Griff1315 said:

Some of these mini bus drivers have the same skill set as Max Verstappen where anything goes..

More like the mind of Max with the skills of a child

[Griff1315]

22 minutes ago, Cabra said:

More like the mind of Max with the skills of a child

Either way they are both dangerous..

[ThaiFoodGuy]

I rented a PCX in Ao Nang once and after 2 minutes of driving it, realized the brakes were barely working. I drove it back t othe rental shop, they gave me another PCX. After 2 minutes of driving it, I realized the brakes were barely working. Drove it back, and this time the shop owner is angry and says "who care about brakes? Why you care so much? I think you scam!" He tried to keep my money.

The same thing happened on the same day in two more rental shops (except they didn't try to keep my deposit). Finally found a shop with a bike that worked like it's supposed to, but the owner literally told me I'm lucky she didn't charge me a higher price because she just had the brakes fixed.

All that to say...there's something about both not giving a shit in general, AND not giving a shit about brakes in particular, that contributes to my suspicion that incidents like these have a lot to do with brakes and not caring to fix them.

[AdvocatusDiaboli]

1 hour ago, ThaiFoodGuy said:

All that to say...there's something about both not giving a shit in general, AND not giving a shit about brakes in particular, that contributes to my suspicion that incidents like these have a lot to do with brakes and not caring to fix them.

Maybe they can make cheaper cars, motorcycles and trucks here, without designing brakes into the manufacturing process. Next would be to remove all stop signs and traffic lights, and increase the speed limit to that of the German Autobahn. Then to keep the road fatalities out of the news, just announce another covid Greek letter outbreak brought in by another tourist. …….. 

[oldschooler]

NEVER take buses or vans or boats in any backward countries. One “white knuckle” silver road rat visa run, rammed home that lesson ! Plane, Train, Limo or Self Drive for me here. 

[RampantRabbit]

3 hours ago, ThaiFoodGuy said:

I rented a PCX in Ao Nang once and after 2 minutes of driving it, realized the brakes were barely working. I drove it back t othe rental shop, they gave me another PCX. After 2 minutes of driving it, I realized the brakes were barely working. Drove it back, and this time the shop owner is angry and says "who care about brakes? Why you care so much? I think you scam!" He tried to keep my money.

The same thing happened on the same day in two more rental shops (except they didn't try to keep my deposit). Finally found a shop with a bike that worked like it's supposed to, but the owner literally told me I'm lucky she didn't charge me a higher price because she just had the brakes fixed.

All that to say...there's something about both not giving a shit in general, AND not giving a shit about brakes in particular, that contributes to my suspicion that incidents like these have a lot to do with brakes and not caring to fix them.

This  is the mindset, I  have a motorbike for my staff  to use, we always  tell them if anything breaks let me know Ill fix  it at my cost, they never do, indicator  breaks they dont tell me, brake  light fails they dont tell me, front brake  fluid  so  low front brake  barely  works, they dont tell me  they just use the rear until out of adjustment. so the lever drops to the floor  before the brake engages. I often check it once every 2  months and find all this crap, it  costs them nothing I pay  for all maintenance which I do myself anyway......they just dont care even when its free.

[HiuMak]

Time is another factor that could be a factor here. Drivers usually have a timing to meet and most are rushing.

I once had an experience taking a mini-van from border town Danok to Hat tyai. Driver was speeding, overtaking and was just a bully on the roads. so were other mini-vans ploughing the same route. First time and last time in this arrangement. Finding a responsible driver can be tough in these countries 

[AussieBob]

9 hours ago, oldschooler said:

NEVER take buses or vans or boats in any backward countries. One “white knuckle” silver road rat visa run, rammed home that lesson ! Plane, Train, Limo or Self Drive for me here. 

Agree - although I am happy to take a taxi in the cities, especially in Bangkok. 

 

[Bennett]

I recall a van ride to Penang, thundering down the highway with the driver nodding off every 30 seconds. I had to keep shouting at him to stay awake. Never again - I've never been so terrified in my life! 

[oldschooler]

5 hours ago, Bennett said:

I recall a van ride to Penang, thundering down the highway with the driver nodding off every 30 seconds. I had to keep shouting at him to stay awake. Never again - I've never been so terrified in my life! 

crikey ! mine was from Karon to Ranong then across choppy open ocean at five knots to some 18th century Burma Port , then back again …… never again…….

[Stonker]

19 hours ago, ThaiFoodGuy said:

All that to say...there's something about both not giving a shit in general, AND not giving a shit about brakes in particular, that contributes to my suspicion that incidents like these have a lot to do with brakes and not caring to fix them.

Certainly "a lot to do with brakes", but not always because they're faulty.

Many accidents occur on steep / winding long downhill routes, as this did. All too frequently the problem is drivers coasting down hill, turning off the engine to try to save fuel.

Unfortunately not only are they then unable to use the engine to slow the vehicle down, but more importantly they lose the power steering and power / servo brakes making the vehicle close to uncontrollable.