A tourist bus carried 18 Chinese tourists and a tour guide crashed into a house in Soi Wild Kingdom at the bottom of Patong Hill last night (February 8).
Two Chinese are reported to have been slight injured, and were taken to Patong Hospital. The driver followed standard procedure and fled the scene.
The crash happened after the bus had successfully negotiated Patong Hill and had passed Wat Suwankiriwong. The driver continued straight on, into Pisit Koranee Rd.
Boonyarit Danchawangpan, a guide with Classic Tour, who was looking after the Chinese group, told The Phuket News that he had heard the driver shout that the brakes were not working.
As he came to the first bend on Pisit Koranee Rd, the driver apparently decided he would not make it round the curve, so went straight on down Soi Wild Kingdom, knocking a motorbike flying.
The bus sideswiped a pickup truck and then plunged through the gates into the yard of a house at the end of the alley, smashing two motorbikes but stopping short of crashing through the wall into the living room.
Mr Boonyarit said he knew the bus driver only as “Brother”. On the back of the bus, however, is a sticker giving the driver’s name in English as Somchai Intrawong.
Police have been in touch with the tour agency to find out who the bus driver is.
Video from Wildking4U