BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has ordered an investigation into a fatal bus accident in the central province of Prachin Buri that claimed the lives of at least 19 people on Wednesday (Feb 26), local news outlet Khaosod reported.
The accident took place at around 3.20am local time in the Nadi district of Prachin Buri, according to the Prachin Buri Road Safety Centre.
Prachin Buri is located around a three-hour drive from Bangkok.
“If it is found that there is a violation of the use of vehicles that do not meet the standards or are involved in reckless use of vehicles, legal action will be taken,” Paetongtarn wrote on X.
Local media reported that the bus was carrying 47 passengers and two drivers from Bueng Kan province, located beside the Mekong River in Thailand’s northeast, on a “community study tour” to Rayong province in the eastern coast of Thailand.
The vehicle was reportedly one of three double-decker buses that were carrying local government officials.
Local media reported that the bus driver had lost control on a downhill section of the Khao San Pu Ton mountain before the bus plunged off the road, down a slope and overturned.
The group had departed from Bueng Kan province at around 5pm the day before.
An earlier statement by the Prachin Buri Provincial Public Relations Office stated that 16 people died at the location of the accident while another died at the hospital.
Local news outlet The Nation reported that local policemen and rescuers took the affected victims, including those injured, to nearby hospitals for medical treatment.
Nineteen people were taken to Nadi Hospital while 13 were sent to Kabin Buri Hospital, according to Bangkok Post.
The affected road is also being cleared to facilitate traffic while the cause of the accident is under investigation, according to the Prachin Buri Provincial Public Relations Office on Wednesday.
Nadi District Chief Somjai Putthasena has also confirmed that the bus involved in the accident was part of a study tour group from Phon Charoen Municipality in Bueng Kan province.
The 200 people were on a five-day Community Waste Bank Development Project study trip organised by Phon Charoen Municipality in Bueng Kan, reported Bangkok Post.
Khaosod also reported that the downhill slope at the Khao San Pu Ton mountain, where the accident occurred, is a frequent accident spot.
The driver had lost control of the vehicle after the brakes had failed, reported Khaosod.
The latest accident took place about four months after a fatal accident involving a school bus in suburban Bangkok.
In October last year, 23 people, mostly children, were killed after a school bus had caught fire.
The bus was carrying six teachers and 39 students in elementary and junior high school, travelling from Uthai Thani province, about 300km north of Bangkok for a school trip in Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi provinces.
The fire started while the bus was on a highway north of the capital and spread so quickly that many were unable to escape.
Thai police have arrested the bus driver and charged him with reckless driving that caused deaths and injuries.
According to AFP, Thailand ranked ninth out of 175 World Health Organization member countries for road traffic deaths, as noted in its 2023 report.
