A bus driver was fined 5,000 baht and had his driving license suspended for 30 days by the Land Transport Department after he was found guilty of abandoning his passengers.
The department also fined the owner of the bus, Inthra Tour Company, 50,000 baht and blacklisted the bus in question, Number 15-9952, after it was discovered that the bus was not fitted with GPS tracking device as required and that the company did not pay the annual road tax for the year 2016.
Land Transport Department director-general Sanit Promwong said that the incident occurred on December 28 involving Inthra Tour Company’s bus No 15-9952 on its way to Chiang Mai from Bangkok with 48 passengers of both Thais and foreign tourists with Mr Sakvarit Pawanthao acting as the driver.
The bus left Pratunam at 8.30 pm, bound for Chiang Mai. It first stopped in Kamphaeng Phet for one and a half hours instead of just 30 minutes’ break as normal, said Mr Sanit. It left the first stop and, after a while, stopped by the roadside for an hour before it proceeded to Salokbaat where it stopped again by the roadside for half an hour.
The bus finally arrived at Muang district of Kamphaeng Phet and stopped by the Phaholyothin roadside. But, this time, the driver ordered all the passengers to leave without any explanation.
Mr Sanit said when officials of Kamphaeng Phet land transport officials learned about the incident, they immediately arranged for a reserve bus to bring all the abandoned passengers to their destination in Chiang Mai. An investigation was immediately ordered to find out the bus driver and his company.
