Tragic Bus Accident in Thailand Claims 14 Lives and Causes Bus to Split in Half

A tragic accident in Thailand has claimed the lives of fourteen people after a double-decker bus lost control and collided with a tree. Images circulating online show the bus on its side, with the front of the vehicle split in two and parts of the tree lodged within it. Another thirty-two individuals were injured in the crash, which occurred in Prachuap Khiri Khan, a coastal province in the southern part of the country. Thailand has long struggled with a high rate of road accidents, resulting in thousands of deaths annually. This alarming statistic is often attributed to inadequate safety standards on the country's busy roads. In 2022 alone, the Road Accidents Data Centre reported that 15,000 individuals lost their lives in traffic-related incidents. In comparison, the UK, which has a slightly smaller population, experienced 1,700 road fatalities during the same period. According to the World Health Organization, traffic accidents accounted for nearly one-third of all deaths in Thailand in 2021. While the exact cause of the recent bus crash has yet to be confirmed, authorities suspect that the driver may have been sleep-deprived. The driver survived the accident but suffered severe injuries. Law enforcement is also investigating whether alcohol was a contributing factor. Authorities are still in the process of identifying the victims of the crash. Prachuap Khiri Khan is a popular destination for tourists due to its picturesque beaches, caves, and hiking trails. The rescue operation to extract the deceased and wounded from the bus took several hours, as depicted in photos shared by the Sawang Prachuap Dhammasathan Foundation on their Facebook page. Rescuers used hammers to break the vehicle's windows and remove the tree that was pressing against the bus. Thailand aims to significantly reduce road traffic deaths to fewer than 12 per 100,000 individuals by 2027, approximately half the current rate. Previous tragic incidents involving buses include a fatal collision between a bus carrying factory workers to a Buddhist temple and a train, resulting in the deaths of twenty people and injuring thirty others in 2020. Additionally, in 2018, a bus in Nakhon Ratchasima province crashed into a tree, claiming the lives of at least seventeen individuals and leaving dozens wounded.