UBON RATCHATHANI — 20 May 2026, the family of “Rose,” a woman killed in Saturday’s catastrophic collision between a train and a public bus, has brought her body back to her hometown in Ubon Ratchathani Province for funeral rites, amid desperate calls from her family for stricter public transport passenger safety.
A funeral service was held at Wat Suan Sawan in Phibun Sub-district, Phibun Mangsahan District, Ubon Ratchathani Province, on Wednesday, for “Rose” Wiparak Phaophuree, a recent graduate of Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Humanities, who died in a tragic train-bus crash on Saturday. Condolence wreaths from multiple organizations were sent to pay respects, and neighbors gathered at the temple to assist the grieving family with funeral arrangements amidst a deeply somber atmosphere.
The religious rites will span three days. Ubon Ratchathani Governor, Narong Thepsena, and local authorities are scheduled to host the first night of the three-day Buddhist funeral prayers. The cremation ceremony will take place on 23 May.
The victim’s mother called for improvements in passenger safety measures on public buses. She said that passengers are forced to place their lives entirely in the hands of the driver, whose sole duty is to get them to their destination safely. The bus driver knew there were railway tracks there, so she questioned why he had driven onto the tracks and stopped across them, which was absolutely no safety consideration. She also mentioned that the family had no warning signs of impending disaster, leaving everyone unprepared for the sudden tragedy that befell her daughter.
Meanwhile, the victim’s aunt shared that her niece routinely commuted using a combination of motorbikes, buses, and taxis, depending on how rushed she was. The family was able to immediately confirm she was on the ill-fated bus because she had paid her fare via a mobile banking application and posted a short social media story stating she was on the bus, providing undeniable proof that her niece was on that exact bus during the incident.
What the victim’s aunt wants to ask for now is that one minute of carelessness destroyed decades of her niece’s future, along with many others. Eight lives were traded for just one minute of impatience. If the driver had sacrificed just one minute to wait, eight lives would not have been lost.
