Unlucky passengers on a Bangkok-Chiang Mai bus got an unexpectedly long stay in Kamphaeng Phet province when their exhausted driver abandoned their bus in mid-journey.
The bus had left Mor Chit bus terminal in Bangkok at 8.30pm on Wednesday.
The first part of the trip went smoothly, but that changed when they reached Kamphaeng Phet and the driver stopped so the passengers could eat.
Normally, the stop would have been about 30 minutes, but it lasted an hour and a half.
When the driver finally returned, he drove for another 20km, then stopped the bus on the side of the road in tambon Salokbat for another hour.
He drove the bus for another 40km and parked in front of the Kamphaeng Phet provincial administration organisation office, where he dozed for another 30 minutes before continuing the journey.
The fourth stop further down the road turned out to be the last as the driver simply got off the bus and walked away. When he did not return, passengers asked an attendant to go and look for him, but the attendant also disappeared. So a passenger called the police.
About 7am on Thursday, highway police and rescue volunteers were called to Phahon Yothin Road in tambon Songtham of Muang district, Kamphaeng Phet. There they found a long-distance bus with a Bangkok licence parked on the side of the road, along with 48 stranded and bewildered passengers.
Authorities then contacted the bus operator to send another bus to take all the stranded passengers to their destination, the Chiang Mai bus terminal.
The bus driver finally did return with the attendant. He told police he was angry with his boss for requiring him to work for several days without a break. He felt tired and overworked.
Police did not press any charges against him and he later drove the empty bus back to Bangkok.
The private bus operator, Inthra Tour Co, is in big trouble, however, facing a licence suspension and a 50,000 baht fine. The driver, too, is likely to be fined 5,000 baht and his driving licence suspended for 30 days.
(Source: The Bangkok Post)