The latest Phuket Chinese tourist accident happened at 7:10pm on Sunday (June 26) when a tour bus with Nakhon Pathom plates – transporting a group of 25 Chinese tourists to their resort on Soi Eden in Patong, returning after a trip to Phang Nga – crashed into a roadside traffic barrier on Patong hill, near the entrance to Sea Pearl Villas.
Pictures taken of the scene moments after the incident show a what appears to be a large water pipe on the road shoulder that was burst, spewing out a stream of water into the air and onto the road, causing traffic to back up as commuters hesitantly drove past.
The driver of the tour bus, named as Tritrong Chuthai, reported that when he realised his brakes had failed while attempting to scale the hill, reacted by jerking the steering wheel hard, and thus crashing the bus and losing momentum.
Police are investigating, more details to follow.
The accident is the second of its kind in Patong in two days, following another Thai driver, also operating a Nakhon-Pathom-registered tour bus transporting a group of Chinese tourists, rolled the six-wheeler over off Nanai 7 in Patong on Saturday morning (June 25).
That driver also blamed bad brakes.