Northern Thailand
Chinese Tourists Injured After Bus Overturns on Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai Highway
CHIANG MAI – A tour bus taking 12 Chinese tourists from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai overturned at a dangerous spot that local people call “the curve of a hundred corpses” in Doi Saket district on Saturday afternoon.
Pol Col Pongpeera Karadket, chief of Doi Saket police station said the accident happened at approximately 3:45 PM on the Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai road between kilometer markers 30-31 at Ban Mae Wan village.
Upon arriving at the scene police and rescue workers found the Hana Bus Tours which operates out of Chiang Mai overturned by the roadside.
Many passengers were seen trying to escape from the overturned vehicle, Thai media reported.
Twelve of the Chinese tourists were injured 4 seriously, the driver and a bus staffer, were also injured.
Three were badly injured, all were taken to Doi Saket Hospital in Chiang Mai.
Pol Col Pongpeera told Thai media that the bus driver Thanong Tippor, 45, said he failed to negotiate the sharp curve, hit a concrete kilometer marker before the bus overturned.
Local residents said road accidents occurred frequently in the area, which explained the grisly name given to the location.
The Consulate General of China in Chiang Mai, Ren Yisheng and other officials of the consulate general hurried to the hospital and ask the hospital and relevant travel agency to take good care of the Chinese tourists.
Ren later said that Chinese tourists were from Guangzhou, and among the injured one suffered comparatively severe injuries, adding that however, their injuries are not fatal.
Northern Thailand has seen a drop in the number of Chinese tourists visiting the country due to a series of accidents involving Chinese tourists.
Earlier this month two Chinese tourists who were found dead in their Hotel room on Chang Khlan Road in Chiang Mai’s Muang district.
Police said that they believe that the two men died 2-3 days apart but couldn’t confirm the exact time until a forensic autopsy had been conducted.
By Geoff Thomas
