The Ministry of Transport plans to task Chulalongkorn University’s Transportation Institute with research on the possibility of replacing passenger vans with mini-buses to accommodate passengers traveling between provinces in Thailand.
This plan came from an instruction given by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to all concerning agencies to study the possibility of replacing passenger vans with mini-buses for safety’s sake. The NCPO regards passenger vans as unsafe, reported Thai PBS.
According to Transport Deputy Permanent Secretary Daroon Saengchai, mini-buses utilized to serve passengers on the inter-provincial routes were proven to be safer than passenger vans, provided they are not overloaded past the limit with passengers or modified.
A number of mini-bus with 18 to 20 seatings will be introduced for a trial run between Bangkok and selected provinces before completion of the Transportation Institute research project, said Land Transport Deputy Director-General Chiroot Visarnchit.
