5% of CNG-powered buses defective

The Department of Land Transport says that 68 of the 1,331 CNG-fuelled buses it has inspected this month were below standards and have been temporarily banned from the roads.
The defects were detected in inspections carried out since Oct 4 in response to the tour bus fire that killed 20 students and three teachers in Pathum Thani on Oct 1. The bus in question was 54 years old and its conversion to compressed natural gas failed to comply with regulations.
The number of defective buses accounted for 5% of the vehicles examined so far, the department said on Thursday. Common problems found were expired gas cylinders and equipment, it added.
The department said 12 buses taken off the roads were later cleared for use again after their operators repaired the problems.
The operators of all the buses were given 15 days to fix them and return for another check.
Thailand has about 13,400 CNG-powered buses on the roads across the country. The Ministry of Transport has ordered all of them inspected but checks so far have covered only 10% of the total registered with the department.
Three young students are still in hospital being treated for burn injuries from the Oct 1 fire. The blaze broke out in a bus carrying students and teachers from Wat Phao Praya Sangkharam School in Uthai Thani.
It was later found that the bus operator, Chinnaboot Tour of Sing Buri, had attempted to conceal non-compliant CNG installations on other buses in its fleet.
Police have pressed serious charges against driver Samarn Chanthabut, the bus owner and the company owner.