Twenty-nine passengers were injured when a tour bus in which they were travelling from Udon Thani skidded off the lane, climbed on a road island and turned one-side up in Bang Pa-in district of Ayutthaya province on Monday morning.
Some of the passengers later told police that they suspected the bus driver might temporarily dozed off due to lack of rest as the bus moved unsteadily before it skidded off the lane, climbed on a road island and turned one side up.
The driver, identified as Thitikorn Onlert, 34, fled the scene after the accident.
Land transport official based in Ayutthaya province said that the GPS system on the bus showed the bus was cruising at an average of about 70 kph. He added that it was lucky that there was a big hole on the road island which appeared to have stopped the vehicle from jumping into the parallel road and ending up hitting a roadside power pole.
The official said that the driver would have his driving license permanently seized so he would not be able to drive a bus again.
Rescue workers arrived at the scene and sent all the injured who included nine men, 19 women and one girl to Karoonvej hospital for first aid treatment.
None of them were seriously injured and all were later picked up by another bus sent by its company.