Four young Swedes on a diving trip to Phuket were killed instantly yesterday (February 1) when a heavy-laden, six-wheeled truck crashed into them head-on. In a bizarre sequence of events, the truck driver sped across a grass divider and collided head-on into the two couples' rental car.
Typical of serious accidents in Thailand, the truck drive fled from the scene and is being sought, although police report that the driver is on the verge of turning himself in, whatever that means.
Killed in the rental car were Johan Olof Nikolas Svensson, 22, Frida Madeleine Falk, 22, Anders Tobias Larsson, 22, Elin Marita Hedbris, 21, and the couples' driver, Wichit Phromluang, 26.
COMMENT: As I have noted in so many other postings involving fatalities in auto accidents on Phuket, it is very common in Thailand for drivers to work two shifts, which often results in them falling asleep.
Many drivers are also hired with little experience so that owners can pay them as little as possible. It is truly sad for so many promising lives to be snuffed out simply because of the Thai government's failure to effectively regulate commercial vehicles, periodically test such drivers as to their competency, enact laws that prevent drivers from working more than 12 hours per day and dead-line vehicles that are deemed to be unsafe.
In this case, the two couples were proactive and prudent in hiring a driver for their rental vehicle, but in the end they all died unnecessarily because road safety is not a priority in Thai society.
Typical of serious accidents in Thailand, the truck drive fled from the scene and is being sought, although police report that the driver is on the verge of turning himself in, whatever that means.
Killed in the rental car were Johan Olof Nikolas Svensson, 22, Frida Madeleine Falk, 22, Anders Tobias Larsson, 22, Elin Marita Hedbris, 21, and the couples' driver, Wichit Phromluang, 26.
COMMENT: As I have noted in so many other postings involving fatalities in auto accidents on Phuket, it is very common in Thailand for drivers to work two shifts, which often results in them falling asleep.
Many drivers are also hired with little experience so that owners can pay them as little as possible. It is truly sad for so many promising lives to be snuffed out simply because of the Thai government's failure to effectively regulate commercial vehicles, periodically test such drivers as to their competency, enact laws that prevent drivers from working more than 12 hours per day and dead-line vehicles that are deemed to be unsafe.
In this case, the two couples were proactive and prudent in hiring a driver for their rental vehicle, but in the end they all died unnecessarily because road safety is not a priority in Thai society.
