Truck hits school bus, injuring 14
PHATTHALUNG: A six-wheeled vehicle crashed into a school bus that had stopped in heavy rain, injuring nine pupils and five adults on the Phetkasem Highway in Muang district yesterday morning.
The accident happened at 7.10am. The bus, a modified truck with row seats, had stopped on the side of the road to pick up passengers at Moo 3 village of tambon Tha Khae, local police said. It was taking pupils and parents from Tamot district to schools in Muang district.
A cold storage truck ran into the back of the bus, which was forced into a roadside ditch by the impact.
Of the 14 injured, two were in serious condition. Police were searching for the truck driver.
Dig resumes for ancient pottery
Nakhon Ratchasima: The Fine Arts Department is conducting further excavations near a house in Muang Yang district where pottery believed to date back more than 3,500 years was unearthed.
Fragments from jars and ancient bracelets were earlier discovered in the district and kept at the department's branch office in the province, but many more pieces of what were ancient household items have still not been retrieved, officials said yesterday.
A one-rai area located near a house in tambon Krabueang Nok is believed to be part of what was a prehistoric community after fragments were found about a metre underground, said the house owner Natthaphon Kwanman, citing the department's findings. Similar discoveries were made in villages such as Ban Muang Yang in the same district.
'Winter' hazard warning issued
Health: The Department of Disease Control issued a warning on four diseases and three health hazards that people should be cautious of during the cold season.
These four diseases are measles, pneumonia, flu and acute diarrhoea. Meanwhile, the three health hazards are the threat of cold, inhalation of toxic gas from water heaters and accidents caused by fog. Cold weather allows some germs to live longer, according to the department. The most vulnerable group facing these health hazards -- the elderly, young children, the homeless, and alcohol drinkers -- should take extra precautions.
Symptoms like fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, and dehydration can be found in children under the age of 2 and people above the age of 65. The "Rotavirus", an infection that causes diarrhoea, is also common among young children aged between 1-3 years.
THAI wins catering deal for buses
TRANSPORT: Thai Airways International (THAI) will provide food, desserts and beverages for passengers on first-class interprovincial buses operated by Transport Co for three years.
Executives of both state enterprises signed the catering service agreement at the Transport Co office yesterday. It will start on Dec 1.
Jirasak Yaowatsakul, managing director of Transport Co, said THAI was among seven contenders and won the contract with a quote of 333.85 million baht, about 65 million baht below the allocated budget.
Wiwat Piyawiroj, vice president of THAI, said food and snacks served on interprovincial buses would be localised to represent famous foods from various regions along the Transport Co's routes. It would be of the same standard as food served on THAI flights and would also meet halal standards, he said.
Community police nabbed for theft
Udon Thani: Three former community volunteers were arrested yesterday for trespassing and stealing coins from oil-dispensing machines on at least 11 occasions in one month to fund their use of amphetamines for recreational purposes.
They later confessed to riding their motorcycles around places where religious ceremonies were taking place in search of coin machines to plunder.
They were named as Songmuang Lardtha, 20, Suriya Pothisachan, 19, and Seri Sriphuwong, 20. They used to serve as "community police", or tamruad ban, to help foster peace in their neighbourhood.
Police at Udon Thani Provincial Sub-Division arrested them at Saifon dormitory in Nong Bua district, where they had been staying. Bags of coins and steel cutters were seized as evidence.
