The Senate Transport Committee summoned the Ministry of Education and the Department of Land Transport to explain the cause of the school bus fire. The representative of the Department of Land Transport hesitated to answer when the engine would be changed from diesel to CNG. He also revealed that “Mitra Tae Insurance” has already paid the insurance money while “Viriya” is in the process of checking the documents.
The Senate Committee on Transportation chaired by Mr. Wuttichai Kalyanamitra, Senator and Chairman of the Committee, had an agenda to consider the case of a fire on a student field trip bus at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School in Uthai Thani Province. Relevant agencies were invited to provide clarification, including the Department of Land Transport, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Education, and the Thai Transport Operators Association, Road Safety Academic Center, and Road Safety Policy Foundation.
By Mr. Cheep Nomsian, Director of the Automotive Engineering Office, Department of Land Transpo
rt, along with Mr. Seksom Akkhaphan, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Land Transport, came to clarify on behalf of the Director-General of the Department of Land Transport who was in a meeting with the Prime Minister about road safety. In the beginning, Mr. Cheep explained the incident, including information from the bus owner company and the driver that they had legal licenses. As for the vehicle itself, it was registered twice: in 1870 and re-registered in 2018 after modifying the chassis, dimensions, number of seats, and body. The company has taken out accident insurance with Mitra Tae Insurance and Viriyah Insurance.
Mr. Wuttichai asked whether the vehicle that caused the accident was initially registered as a CNG fuel type. The deputy director-general of the Department of Land Transport explained that the vehicle was initially registered as a diesel engine, but there was no information on when the request was made to change to a CNG gas system.
Then, Mr. Wuttichai asked about the payments f
rom the two insurance companies, whether they had paid the families of the deceased yet. The deputy director-general of the Department of Land Transport explained that Mitra Tae Insurance had already paid, while Viriyah Insurance was in the process of checking the documents, but he believed that they would definitely pay according to the insurance companies. In addition, there was additional compensation from the Disaster Relief Fund of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Source: Thai News Agency