Bus crashes into truck injuring 22 tourists in Thailand

Twenty-two people were injured when a bus crashed into an oncoming truck in Thailand.

The double decker had picked up passengers in Bangkok when it collided with a ten-wheeler truck while travelling along Highway 32 in Sing Buri province on August 12 afternoon.

Police Lieutenant Pornsatit Burarat of the Sing Buri City Police Station said officers received a report at 4:30 pm.

They arrived with rescuers at the scene, where 22 people were injured, including bus staff Jiraporn Kongprachak, whose legs were seriously wounded.

Volunteers used cutting equipment to extract two other people from the wreckage.

The bus driver, Sakda Kiewphan, 62, said: 'I was driving from Bangkok to drop off passengers in Si Satchanalai District. There were 28 people inside in total, 25 passengers, two drivers, and a service staff.

'When I arrived at the scene of the accident, I fell asleep. When I came to, I found I had already crashed into the back of the truck with a loud bang.'

The injured were taken to the Sing Buri Hospital for treatment.

Police said they were investigating the cause of the accident.

Thailand has one of the world's worst road safety records. Ministers have set the goal of reducing fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.

However, a lack of road safety education in schools along with notoriously easy driving tests, police failures to enforce road laws, and chronic under-investment in infrastructure, all appear to hamper the efforts.