A TRUCK carrying chopped rubber trees overturned today on the same dangerous bend on the Big Buddha Hill that claimed the lives of six people on Phuket on Sunday.
The driver was injured in the crash about 10.30am and later admitted to Vachira Hospital in Phuket City. He told police he saw ''bodies on the road'' and swerved to avoid them.
Workers at an elephant camp on the bend also said they had been kept awake at night by cries for help from the dead, prompting monks to hold a spirit ceremony.
The dangers of the Big Buddha Hill bend became apparent when a tour jeep ran off the road at the same point in January last year, killing a young Australian tourist who was on his honeymoon on Phuket.
His wife, a dancer, broke her pelvis and seven other Australian tourists were also injured. Although authorities at the time understood that the bend needed to be widened and flattened to make it safer, nothing was done.
The Thai driver of the pickup that crashed into another tourist truck on Sunday and four of the five Burmese passengers killed were being cremated today and tomorrow at a Buddhist temple in Phuket City.
The sixth victim, a girl aged three, will be buried later in northern Phuket, according to Burmese tradition.
The other 14 people travelling in the pick-up on Sunday, all Burmese, were treated at Vachira Hospital in Phuket City, with seven admitted with head injuries or broken bones.
None of the 15 Australian tourists who were passengers in the solid new tour bus that was travelling uphill were seriously injured, although three were cut by flying glass.
Bad brakes probably contributed to Sunday's crash, but police who investigated the collision are likely to tell authorities that the bend is a risky ''black spot'' where more will die unless fresh roadwork is carried out.
Yesterday the property developers Phanason, who employed the dead workers and their families, brought four monks from the San Suk temple in Phuket City, where the six bodies were being kept, to an elephant camp on the Big Buddha Bend.
The monks prayed and chanted, inviting the spirits of the dead to return to their bodies. Elephant camp workers had told a Phanason manager that on Sunday night, they had heard cries for help all night.
Officials of Phuket's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation were holding a seminar on traffic safety on Phuket at a Phuket City hotel today.
Road design is part of the agenda of the two day conference involving southern provinces, with ''100 percent helmet'' campaigner Colonel Wanchai Eakpornpit, Phuketwan's Phuket Person of the Year for 2010, visiting from Ranong to provide input.
Eight people died on Phuket during the so-called ''seven days of danger'' at Songkran, although only seven deaths were officially recorded.
The eighth victim was a Burmese woman pedestrian, killed outside a popular Phuket City supermarket, who has yet to be identified. The reasons why her death did not count remain unclear.
The driver was injured in the crash about 10.30am and later admitted to Vachira Hospital in Phuket City. He told police he saw ''bodies on the road'' and swerved to avoid them.
Workers at an elephant camp on the bend also said they had been kept awake at night by cries for help from the dead, prompting monks to hold a spirit ceremony.
The dangers of the Big Buddha Hill bend became apparent when a tour jeep ran off the road at the same point in January last year, killing a young Australian tourist who was on his honeymoon on Phuket.
His wife, a dancer, broke her pelvis and seven other Australian tourists were also injured. Although authorities at the time understood that the bend needed to be widened and flattened to make it safer, nothing was done.
The Thai driver of the pickup that crashed into another tourist truck on Sunday and four of the five Burmese passengers killed were being cremated today and tomorrow at a Buddhist temple in Phuket City.
The sixth victim, a girl aged three, will be buried later in northern Phuket, according to Burmese tradition.
The other 14 people travelling in the pick-up on Sunday, all Burmese, were treated at Vachira Hospital in Phuket City, with seven admitted with head injuries or broken bones.
None of the 15 Australian tourists who were passengers in the solid new tour bus that was travelling uphill were seriously injured, although three were cut by flying glass.
Bad brakes probably contributed to Sunday's crash, but police who investigated the collision are likely to tell authorities that the bend is a risky ''black spot'' where more will die unless fresh roadwork is carried out.
Yesterday the property developers Phanason, who employed the dead workers and their families, brought four monks from the San Suk temple in Phuket City, where the six bodies were being kept, to an elephant camp on the Big Buddha Bend.
The monks prayed and chanted, inviting the spirits of the dead to return to their bodies. Elephant camp workers had told a Phanason manager that on Sunday night, they had heard cries for help all night.
Officials of Phuket's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation were holding a seminar on traffic safety on Phuket at a Phuket City hotel today.
Road design is part of the agenda of the two day conference involving southern provinces, with ''100 percent helmet'' campaigner Colonel Wanchai Eakpornpit, Phuketwan's Phuket Person of the Year for 2010, visiting from Ranong to provide input.
Eight people died on Phuket during the so-called ''seven days of danger'' at Songkran, although only seven deaths were officially recorded.
The eighth victim was a Burmese woman pedestrian, killed outside a popular Phuket City supermarket, who has yet to be identified. The reasons why her death did not count remain unclear.
Many more people will probably die due to poor driving skills and vehicle maintenance than the blind bend. There will be a slight safety advantage for me walking up the hill but as for bad drivers they will still find a way to crash on any down hill bend. You would need a major safety barrier to save lives and I haven't seen one on any hill in Phuket, no matter how many people die.
Posted by mike on April 19, 2011 11:27
Editor Comment:
Perhaps you are talking about a more substantial crash barrier than the ones on Patong Hill and Karon Hill. What you say is probably true, but traffic ''black spots'' should be fixed.