TWELVE Malaysian tourists and a Thai guide were killed after their bus crashed in northern Thailand yesterday, police said.

    The bus, carrying 23 people, hit a car and ran off a curve in the road in the Doi Saket district, near the northern city of Chiang Mai, provincial police chief Major General Montri Sambunyanon said.

    The other 10 people on the bus, including the Thai driver, were also injured in the crash and were being treated in hospital in Chiang Mai city, Montri said.

    Two people from the other vehicle were injured as well.

    Thailand has one of the highest road accident death rates in the world, according to its public health ministry, with reckless and drunk driving among the top reasons for road accidents.

    Malaysians are the second-largest group of visitors to Thailand. More than 293,000 arrived in November, accounting for 11.5 percent of tourist arrivals, according to the tourism ministry.

    (SD-Agencies)