How many more victims must die on public buses?

After seven years of fighting in court, the father of a girl who died in a bus accident in 2004 has sent a strong message to bus operators and relevant government agencies. Nam Chotmanas, whose daughter fell from a public bus, said that he hoped that his daughter did not die in vain. Those responsible should learn from the case and improve safety regulations for public transportation. 

Unfortunately, the case is unlikely be the last of its kind.

Nam lost his daughter, Piyatida Chotmanas, a 21-year-old senior student at ABAC University, because of the bus driver’s recklessness and carelessness. Piyatida fell from a No 207 bus on September 14, 2004. The court ruled that the driver was negligent because he failed to close the door of the vehicle, and the bus company had failed to fix it, despite the fact that doors on public buses are intended to provide safety for passengers. Piyatida fell out of the bus, hitting her head on the pavement on Ramkhamhaeng Road, and died 10 days later from severe brain trauma.

Earlier this week, Piyatida’s family was awarded Bt9.8-million in compensation plus interest from the Supreme Court. But her father Nam said that the money was not the issue. He decided to pursue the case to remind society of the poor service provided by public bus operators, for the sake of the safety of future passengers. 

Unfortunately, public bus services have hardly improved since the day that Piyatida passed away. “It has been seven years since the tragedy struck our family and we still hear about accidents involving public buses and passenger vans,” Nam said. 

In fact, it was reported that after the accident, the reckless driver in question was allowed to return to work, driving a public bus, until the case went to court.

Still, the bus driver and the bus company are not the only ones to blame for the accident. The current public bus system, which involves a lot of concessions, results in an inferior service at the expense of the safety of passengers. The companies that win concessions to operate public services on certain routes do not strive to improve services or carry out proper vehicle maintenance. In addition, the contracted bus drivers are not trained to be responsible for the lives of the people they are carrying. Those drivers that are paid per journey completed are also more likely to drive recklessly in order to earn more money. The evidence is the tragedy of Piyatida.

It is ironic that while most public bus services here are operated via concessions, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA), which is responsible for issuing operating licenses, is still operating at a loss. The BMTA has to rely on subsidies. And it has not done a good job in supervising the bus operator to which it allocates concessions.

In addition, some concessions have been sub-contracted by profit-seeking transport operators. The operator at the lowest rung of the ladder therefore has to shoulder the burden of the sub-contracting fee as well as the normal operating costs such as fuel and maintenance. Some of these operators still try to cut the cost of the service to the passengers, thus affecting the final quality of service, including the standard of driver and condition of the vehicle. Consequently, millions of commuters’ lives hang in the balance every day.

The Transport Ministry and other responsible agencies must take this issue seriously and start to overhaul the public bus service. This is not only to improve the quality and safety of public transportation, which is the state’s duty, but also to encourage the public to use public transportation in order to maximise energy consumption.

Piyatida’s premature death should serve as a powerful message about how human carelessness can result in tragedy. But the big question remains: Are we capable of heeding that message? Piyatida was a bright young student who was supposed to have a bright future ahead of her. She planned to continue her studies in Japan, and she was likely to have become a great credit to this country. 

“On a personal note, the court victory is hardly a consolation,” her father, Nam, said. “Imagine how I feel every time I am invited to a graduation or wedding party. I cannot help but think what might have happened if my daughter were still alive.”