Drivers switch places in moving bus in western Thailand, 11 tourists injured

Ten foreign tourists and one Thai passenger were injured in a bus crash in Phetchaburi province in western Thailand at around 3am yesterday.

Two drivers tried to switch seats while the vehicle was still moving, causing the bus to crash into a power pole, they admitted to the police.

The white tour bus, travelling from Surat Thani to Bangkok, was carrying 19 passengers when the accident happened on the Phetchakasem Road in Khao Yoi district.

A rescue team and officers from Phetchaburi Police Station and Khao Yoi Police Station rushed to the scene to help victims who were stuck inside the bus, which ended up in a ditch on the roadside.

Eleven out of 19 passengers were injured including one Thai, three Israelis, one Swiss, four Bangladeshi, and two French tourists. The victims were treated at Bangkok-Phetchaburi Hospital and Maha Chai Phetcharat Hospital in Phetchaburi province.

The two Thai drivers, Amphon and Pichit, came out of the accident unscathed. Amphon said the crash happened when he clambered out of the driver’s seat to allow Pichit to take over.

Pichit didn’t grab the wheel in time and the bus continued moving with no one steering it, launching the vehicle into a power pole and off the road.

Police did not say if the drivers had or would be criminally charged. Both drivers could possibly be charged with dangerous driving causing injury.

In March, eight passengers were killed and 20 more were injured in a double-decker bus accident on Mittraphap Road in Saraburi province in central Thailand.