The night market in Chiang Mai was bustling as Maja Delić and Emil Kidmose made their way through the array of food stalls. The smell of spices, fish and smoke from the grill filled the air. When Maja checked her mobile phone she realized that her mother had called and texted her a couple of times. She finally called back 40 minutes after her moms first call and heard the relief in her mother’s voice, answering from the other end of the world.
The news had just made headlines in Maja and Emil’s home country Denmark: a minibus driving from Chiang Mai to the popular tourist destination Pai fell down a ravine, leaving the 13 young Danish passengers hospitalized and the Thai driver dead on 8 February 2024. Maja’s father told her he couldn’t work as he was sick of worry. Her not picking up, had her family thinking the worst had happened – that their daughter had been a passenger in the crashed bus.
The two Danish friends, 20-year-old Emil Kidmose from Brøndby and 20-year-old Maja Delić from Frederiksberg, have now changed their travel plans to avoid the route between Chiang Mai and Pai.
“We asked ourselves, is it worth it?” Maja Delić said.
The death curve
According to the Mae Hong Son Tourist Police, which was initially the responsible police department for the case, the curve where the bus crashed is known as the “death curve” by locals. Thailand has one of the highest number of annual traffic accidents, killing around 20,000 individuals on the roads and injuring a million in 2023.
According to the Pai police department, which later took over the case, the minivan in question is still under forensic investigation to determine whether the vehicle was faulty. The examination of the Thai bus driver concluded that the driver did not have any alcohol in his blood at the time of the accident. So far the police therefore suspect a human error of the driver was the cause of the accident.
Maja and Emil could easily have been on that particular bus from Chiang Mai to Pai. This specific path through Northern Thailand is a typical trip for backpackers and other young travelers coming to Southeast Asia for the white beaches, vibrant night markets and adventure. Many tourists take the route from Chiang Mai to Pai to Chiang Rai and then take a boat to Laos. The two Danes were supposed to meet in Thailand on 3 February 2024, but they got delayed three days, meaning Emil and Maja could have been on the crashed bus, if everything had gone to plan.
Worried tourists
Other tourists warned Maja about the route and many had called it both chaotic and scary. They advised her to split a taxi to climb the slopey mountain side. The same can be seen in the Hostelworld app, where backpackers ask if others going to the same destination are willing to take a car together in order to avoid the notorious mini busses.
Emil had traveled with some Danish girls in Indonesia, and they went to Chiang Mai before him and were in Pai when it happened. He was worried about them and texted them, but luckily nothing had happened. Both Maja and Emil agree it hits closer to home, when it is fellow countrymen that are involved in accidents like this. Especially because it worried their families.
A new initiative
The accident happened just a week before the Thai government announced to allocate a budget of 50 million baht to compensate foreign tourists who have accidents in Thailand. The money was taken from the Emergency and Necessary Expenditure Reserve Fund and will apply to accidents from 1 January to 1 August 2024. The initiative is part of the government’s broader plan to generate 3,5 trillion baht in revenue from tourism in 2024.
Both young Danes say they are not considering going home after hearing about the accident. Emil’s parents said he shouldn’t let this affect his and Maja’s trip. Maja’s father was a bit more hesitant and told her multiple times to be cautious. But nothing can deter the two young adventurers from finishing their trip, which for both of them will last around three more months.
“Full speed ahead”, Emil said and laughed.
