(Updated) Double-decker buses: Strict new rules coming

The Land Transport Department (LTD) is set to introduce tough new safety regulations for double-decker buses, including measures to ensure drivers are better qualified.

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Passing a slope test like this one is just one of the new requirements to improve the safety of double-deck buses. Here a double-decker bus undergoes the test at the Department of Land Transport in Pathum Thani. APICHIT JINAKUL

'Strict new bus rules' due

Amornrat Mahitthirook 
Chadamas Chinmaneevong

The Land Transport Department (LTD) is set to introduce tough new safety regulations for double-decker buses, including measures to ensure drivers are better qualified.

The new regulations are expected to take effect between next month and June.

The rules were announced by LTD chief Asdsathai Rattanadilok na Phuket Thursday in the wake of the double-decker accident in Tak on Monday which left 30 passengers dead and dozens injured.

One of the new regulations will require drivers of double-decker buses to obtain a Category 3 public transport driver’s licence, the highest available qualification for a bus driver. Only the most skilled drivers are granted such a licence, Mr Asdsathai said. Double-decker bus drivers currently need only a Category 2 licence.

The requirement should be in place around the end of next month, Mr Asdsathai said.

The LTD is also drafting regulations demanding mandatory safety belts and better-quality seats on all double-deckers, as well as ensuring the structural strength of bus bodies meets international standards.

Those new regulations are set to come into effect some time between next month and June.

The King Mongkut University of Technology’s North Bangkok campus will be commissioned to help design the blueprint for a bus body with improved balance and stability, Mr Asdsathai said.

Last year only 43% of 1,250 public buses with heights over 3.6 metres passed a balance test, known as a "slope test", he said.

The department chief added there are also plans to improve the braking system of double-deckers.

“Many countries have already banned the use of double-decker buses to transport tourists as they are not safe. So, Thailand should do the same,” Association of Thai Travel Agents president Susdivachr Cheewarattanaporn said.

Many tour operators prefer not to use double-deckers to transport foreign tourists due to safety fears, he added.

Thursday's story

A double-decker bus carrying Buri Ram United soccer fans overturned in Buri Ram early this month, injuring over 10 passengers. Fortunately, in this case, there were no deaths. PIKUL KAEWHAWONG

'Half' of all double-deck buses unsafe

Amornrat Mahitthirook

Land transport authorities have revealed nearly half of double-decker buses have failed basic safety tests, as major transport operators are torn over a plan to ban the vehicles.

Caretaker Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt said Wednesday many double-decker buses on the roads were unsafe and he wanted operators to order their drivers to take more precautions on dangerous routes.

"Of the buses subject to a slope test, about 45% did not pass," Mr Chadchart said, citing ministry figures. It was not clear when the figures were compiled, or what happens to the buses which fail. "The vehicles can overturn if they negotiate a curve at high speed."

A standard double-decker bus weighs about 18 tonnes and is 4.5 metres high. It can carry up to 50 passengers, while a single-decker bus weighs 15 tonnes, is about 3.8 four metres high and carries up to 40 passengers. The minister said it may be difficult to control a double-decker bus in an emergency situation given the added height and weight.

Mr Chadchart plans to limit the height of all passenger buses to four metres in the future. At present, there are about 6,200 double-decker buses registered nationwide. Of them, about 1,700 are scheduled buses while the rest are charter vehicles.

The plan comes in the wake of an accident involving a double-decker bus which killed 29 people and injured 23 others in Tak on Monday.

Mr Chadchart also pointed to seven highways which he said are unsafe for double-decker buses to operate on. They are the Tak-Mae Sot, the Phitsanulok-Phetchabun, the Kabin Buri-Pak Thong Chai, the Ang Thong-Sing Buri-Chai Nat section of the Asian Highway, the Rangsit-Saraburi, the Krabi-Phangnga and the Chiang Mai-Mae Hong Son routes.

Thailand Development Research Institute researcher Sumet Ongkittikul said bus operators preferred double-decker buses because they can carry more passengers. But he said research has found they are not suitable for long-haul routes as the vehicles can become dangerously unstable driving up or down steep slopes.

He also pointed out that the UN Economic Commission for Europe introduced 150 safety criteria for operating the vehicles, but the Department of Land Transport implemented only four of them in regulating passenger buses.

Mr Sumet said operators apply to register about 800 double-decker buses annually, but about 20-30% fail safety tests. He added that a standard double-decker bus costs about 7-8 million baht, but most double-decker buses driven in Thailand are locally assembled and cost 3-4 million baht each.

Sujinda Cherdchai, president of the Thai Bus Operators Association and owner of Cherdchai Tour Co, opposes a ban on double-decker buses on danger-prone routes.

She said most bus operators, including her own company, had spent a lot of money to acquire the double-decker buses. A ban on the vehicles would be unfair to the companies, she said, adding that most accidents are the fault of drivers, not the vehicles.

Sathaporn Wongbenjarat, president of Nakhonchai Air, said his company avoided using double-deckers because tall buses handled poorly and were unsuitable for driving at high speeds.

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