March 23, 20197 yr NOTE -- Many of us know guys from Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos who make regular border runs to get their visa renewed. And most use a van service to take them there and back. One of these green vans was struck broadside by a truck and knocked into a river in Kanchanaburi. Eight bodies were recovered and two remain missing. A friend sent me a video posted on Facebook that shows the brave efforts of rescuers to help save the victims. Although the article reports that all appear to be from Myanmar, apparently there were some Vietnamese among them passengers. He knows one of the victims, a Vietnamese guy who worked in Bangkok and was traveling with his girlfriend who also died. This young man leaves friends who work in Soi Tarntawan. From The Nation (23 Mar.) Eight Myanmar migrants drowned and two others are missing presumed dead after a van they were travelling in was hit by a 10-wheel truck and both vehicles plunged into a canal in Kanchanaburi's Tha Muang district on Saturday. Police said the accident happened at 12.10pm at the Sa Setthi Intersection in Tambon Ban Mai. About 100 rescuers rushed to the scene to try to save the passengers who were trapped inside the van. The rescuers retrieved eight bodies, one of them a pregnant woman. Four were rescued and were sent to a nearby hospital. Officials said two migrants were still missing. Police said the van was taking the migrants back to Myanmar. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30366370 Facebook video https://www.facebook.com/groups/725742910831493/permalink/2602797739792658
March 23, 20197 yr I was talking to a Cambodian boy who does visa run every 2 weeks. He said it’s a 4 hour journey to reach the border in a van.
March 23, 20197 yr The actual duration of the trip, including layover time in Cambodia and at Thai immigration point, is closer to 14 hours. The vans leave BKK about midnight to 1a.m. and don't get back to Bangkok until mid-afternoon due to heavy return traffic that time of day. It's an exhausting but unavoidable trip.
March 24, 20197 yr UPDATE: The Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand has confirmed that the dead included five Vietnamese nationals. Friends of the young man (cited in the OP) who work in the Silom area were planning to gather with the family at the Bangkok Police Hospital this morning before his body is transported to Ha Tinh Province in Vietnam for the funeral.
March 24, 20197 yr On 3/23/2019 at 8:53 PM, reader said: The actual duration of the trip, including layover time in Cambodia and at Thai immigration point, is closer to 14 hours. The vans leave BKK about midnight to 1a.m. and don't get back to Bangkok until mid-afternoon due to heavy return traffic that time of day. It's an exhausting but unavoidable trip. And they do this every two weeks? Wow. I get cranky on flights lasting longer than five hours. My regulars are both Thai but next time I will see if I can give a boy who does these exhausting visa runs some business for extra pocket money.
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