Motorcycle taxi driver Somkid Tosoi says he blew his whistle and shouted at the bus driver. It was not enough. A heavy freight train hit the stalled bus on a Bangkok level crossing on Saturday, May 16, 2026, and pushed it about 50 metres along the tracks before it burst into flames.
Eight people died, all of them on the bus. The crash happened beside the Airport Rail Link’s Makkasan station, near Asok-Din Daeng Road in Huai Khwang district. An emergency alert reached police through the 199 hotline at 3.42 pm.
Bus caught on the tracks
Train No. 2126 was bound for Bang Sue Junction. It struck a BMTA Route 206 bus and a motorcycle, and the wreckage then swept into more vehicles. In all, six motorcycles, a car, a pickup truck and the bus were hit. Fire consumed the bus within minutes and explosions followed when the flames reached its fuel tank.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said preliminary findings pointed to the bus becoming trapped across the crossing in heavy traffic. Officials from Ratchathewi district told him vehicles had blocked it before the collision. Congestion, the governor said, may have kept the barrier system from working properly.
Somkid said the warning signals were operating, but traffic would not move off the tracks. “I shouted warnings,” he said, and he watched the freight train approach from Chachoengsao at speed. Another witness, a 38-year-old identified only as Aun, had stopped his Audi before the crossing. “When I turned to look, I saw the train pushing the bus away and flames erupted almost immediately,” he said.
Rescue and the toll
Bystanders ran toward the wreck while passengers screamed for help from inside. The fire was out in under an hour. Early counts put the injured above 20; later tallies reached 33, including two in critical condition, though some outlets reported 35. Six of the injured were taken to Camillian Hospital, and 15 were discharged the following day.
The dead were burned beyond recognition. By May 17, authorities had named two of them: Teekha Teekha-Utmakorn, 34, and Tiam Phuangyod, 57, both from Ban Kratai Don in Sisaket Province. Forensic officers expected to confirm all identities by May 19. Among the passengers, 66-year-old Aiyang from Samut Prakan was on the phone with her niece Sirilak when the train hit, and CCTV caught the moment.
Investigation and charges
Several witnesses said the crossing barrier never came down, and a video circulating online appeared to show it upright just before impact. Authorities did not immediately verify the footage. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ordered a formal inquiry, including whether the barriers were lowered, and the Department of Rail Transport opened its own investigation.
Police said the train driver tested positive for methamphetamine. The train’s event data recorder showed emergency brakes applied only 100 m before the crash, when a safe braking distance would be at least 2 km. The train operator, Sayomporn Suankul, 46, and bus driver Lapit Thongboon, 56, were charged with reckless driving causing death. A crossing barrier operator faces a charge of negligence causing death and injury.
The BMTA pledged about 1.5 million baht for every person killed and 80,000-500,000 baht for those injured. The crash followed a train accident earlier this year in Nakhon Ratchasima that killed 32 people.
Sources
- 2026 Bangkok train collision – Wikipedia
- Rail crash in central Bangkok kills eight. Train struck a bus stuck in traffic. Junction barriers failed to lower – Thai Examiner
