Locals point out dangerous railway crossing in central Thailand
More than 50 people gathered to point out the dangers presented by a railway crossing in the Photaram district of Racha Buri province, central Thailand, this morning.
Firstly, the crossing has no automatic barriers or lights to warn cars or pedestrians when a train is coming.
Secondly, the “slope” up to the crossing is so poorly constructed that even pickup trucks have a hard time getting over it, let alone small children, elderly people, and the disabled.
The crossing is used not only by cars but also pedestrians and children travelling to school.
Mayor of Photaram District, Sayan Changpanich, said he has received numerous complaints from villagers regarding the crossing since the main railway crossing in front of the Photaram Provincial Electricity Office – around 1 kilometre away – was closed.
Villagers say the previous crossing, which was closed for the construction of a double train track, was much safer with barriers and a smooth road.
The villagers want two things from the State Railway of Thailand (SRT): make the current railway crossing safer and bring back the old crossing too.
Boonthuan Buakham, a local man, said that he crosses the tracks by bicycle four times a day to take and collect his grandchildren from school.
He said that since the old railway crossing closed, he has to drive a further 1 kilometre to the dangerous railway crossing.
Boonthuan said he is already very old and doesn’t need a longer journey. He said he is too weak to push his bicycle up the steep slope.
The old man said he is terrified of having an accident on the track.
Villagers are right to be wary of railway crossing accidents…
On Sunday, a woman died and a newlywed couple were injured when their pickup truck was struck by an express train at a railway crossing in Songkhla province in southern Thailand.
Last month, a taxi driver was killed when a train crashed into a car and pushed it for 200 metres along the track in Bangkok.
In November, dashcam footage captured the moment a train split an 18-wheel articulated lorry clean in half when it got stuck on the track at a railway crossing in northern Thailand.
