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Home » News from Thailand » Road safety Thailand: Minivan becomes midibus
Road safety Thailand: Minivan becomes midibus
The Thai government wants to get rid of minibuses because they are very dangerous and often involved in traffic accidents. The small vans must be replaced by a midibus that can transport more passengers.
A technical committee is expected to approve a proposal with technical and safety specifications soon. Bus operator Transport Co will then be the first to purchase 55 new midibuses. Transport Co now has 6.400 minibuses.
The Ministry of Transport wants to replace all interprovincial minibuses with the larger variant, which would be safer, before the end of the year. From July 1, they must gradually disappear from the road.
The replacement of the minibuses has been prompted by a number of serious accidents, such as a collision in Chiang Rai in which seven passengers and the driver were killed and a collision in Chon Buri between a minivan and a pickup truck in which 25 people were killed.
Source: Bangkok Post
Like a speed limiter on it and a tackograph??
A few years ago I tried to import such a Toyota van shown in the photo, of which there are tens of thousands driving around in Thailand, but that was not possible because the RDW does not consider them safe and does not want to approve them.
I wonder what they'll come up with now.
Vans are only as safe as the person driving them.
It does not matter whether the driver falls asleep in a minibus or in a midibus.
In a midibus there are only slightly more victims.
Maybe it's just a way to collect more tax, because vans have to be purchased of course.
I've read that they need a special driver's license for this.
So not a normal driver's license for a car.
Maybe someone can answer this.
The Thai driver's license is valid for driving saloons, pickups and also minibuses.
You need a different driver's license to drive trucks and passenger buses.
These driving licenses are not reserved for foreigners.
Keep in mind that as a driver of a minibus, loaded with people, you will probably be stopped / stopped by the Boys in Brown, as they will think that you are transporting passengers for payment. Same goes for tuk-tuks and songtaews.
You are not allowed to drive tuktuks and songtaews as a foreigner. In principle, minibuses are, provided they have a white plate with blue letters.
What will a larger minibus change about the reckless driving behavior of those drivers
Will it be safer then???
I think there will be more casualties because more people can fit in.
Amazing Thailand
computing
Can talk about it. Last year with a driver in 10 hours from Chiang Rai to Pattaya where we sometimes reached speeds of 150 km per hour and the empty bottles of Lipo piled up.
The driver with bloodshot eyes, a blown engine and on three cylinders we arrived in Pattaya in one piece. Never again!
Also do not understand that you sit in a minivan for 10 hours if you can fly for less than 1000 bht ...
A curious solution to a problem: you don't tackle the problem (driver misconduct), but you propose a cosmetic operation. If you do nothing about misconduct and overloaded vans, the problem will continue and the number of victims per accident will indeed be higher.
And what happens to all those minibuses anyway? Will they be taken off the road by the end of this year? This results in a lot of capital destruction and many well-intentioned drivers with their own (financed) minivan will go bankrupt. Drivers and their financiers will not be happy about that.
And if those vans are not banned, they will continue to drive.
Intensive control and tackling of kamikaze drivers should take place. If not, the accidents will continue to happen, but now with midi vans and therefore more victims.
Indeed, whether they put those kamikazes in a minivan or a midibus, it won't improve as long as their mentality doesn't change (that is, never).
And the existing vans will not disappear but will be turned a blind eye by the police who will demand their share, just like everywhere else.
The transport is not adapted to the distance. I don't understand why you want to get into such a kl@terig van as a passenger for hundreds of miles. Chiang Rai to Pattaya, I think a good 900 km. Madness!
This country has an orderly system for long-distance buses and with a small surcharge you can also sit in luxury. There's the pretty safe train; you can fly and it's not that expensive.
But tourists also sometimes think that they can earn some time by stepping into such a moving coffin. I go max 50 km in such a minibus; everything further than that in the large regular bus and preferably with the slightly more expensive bus with a well-rested driver. When my wife does the 600 km to Bangkok she is in Nakhon Chai Air, costs a bit more but then you also have something.
You don't do anything against a gentleman who has fallen asleep in a truck, but as long as my driver is awake, then I have not taken any unnecessary risks.
Well in itself there is nothing wrong with these vans, not even for long distances, but they just cram them too full with an extra back seat where you don't sit comfortably and then with all the luggage.
Just 7 or 8 passengers in it and drive NORMALLY then there is nothing to worry about.
I once rented such a van with driver to drive from above Ayutthaya to Rayong with a number of family members and said that we were not in a hurry and that went fine.
Mandatory better driver training would be better, now with greater transport options only chance of more deaths
I don't think the biggest problem is the equipment, but the drivers, many of whom are paid per ride instead of per hour. There is still going, but the same day back from Phuket to BKK, for example, most consume more Thai Red Bull than the Toyota Commuter diesel.
Better replace the drivers than the vans.
Driverless vans, that's the solution. Enter or make mandatory as soon as possible. Go Tesla.
It is mainly the driving style and behavior of the drivers.
Minibuses or Midibuses, I believe that the real safety starts with a good driver training. Only a complete rethinking, regarding alcohol consumption, traffic training, work and rest times, coupled with a really good control, can change this in the long run.
All those tourists or expats who constantly talk that it's not too bad, should only see where Thailand ranks in the world ranking in terms of the number of fatal traffic accidents.
That really won't help as long as no driving time decision is made and it will be checked with a tachograph so that the driver does not do strange things on the roads and adjust the speed. Some people are real kamikazes. I never get into a minivan or even into a minivan. If a MIDI comes along, they'll just overfill the vans and run away.
It is not the minivan but the driver who can talk about the danger, with several people having been to Cambodia for a visa run. Were all substandard drivers, cutting corners, driving over the continuous lines, excessive speed, some praised the 5 star visa run, but no seat belts that I went with last time. Was happy that I was safely back in Pattaya every time. I'm very happy to be rid of those kammikaze pilots. Won't change if they don't take stricter action on those new buses. Speed control! So onto the driver! If the river acts stupid it has nothing to do with the bus!
Not to mention those school buses.
One drives around here every day to take children to a school in Lamphun.
Everything rattles when he passes by.
As a former MOT judge, I would like to take a closer look at him.
And among those school bus drivers there are also many kamikaze pilots.
I also often see them making overtaking maneuvers on a busy two-lane road with a double unbroken yellow line in the middle.
They are killers with no knowledge of safety at all.
Jan Beute.
These minibuses should be safer for the occupants. So, in any case, fewer casualties or injuries with a constant number of accidents. And these buses lend themselves less to the idiotic driving behavior, which should also help. As a quick fix, I think it's a good move.
Unfortunately, follow-up steps (driver training, checks, etc.) will most likely not be forthcoming.
Indeed, never again take a minibus which are dangerous.
The big problem is the driver, not his bad driving, but no rest periods.
Bangkok-Chanthaburi after 5 minutes Chanthaburi-Bangkok, 5 minutes of rest to drink a Redbull and again Bangkok-Chanthaburi, 5 minutes of rest and again Chanthaburi-Bangkok and all that as much as possible with 1 driver, delays due to traffic jams, then this must be caught up and all this from early in the morning until late at night.
Only strong drinks keep them awake and all this indeed with overcrowded vans. No passengers are allowed to sit next to the driver, but usually even 2 pieces.
People are now writing that there should be more speed control?
Fill up with average speed checks or speed cameras, just like the Netherlands?
Then I already know that people will later complain that the Thai government is grabbing money through those poles….
Well, in the Netherlands they are not there for safety either!