A driver was killed and 15 schoolchildren were injured in a horror bus crash in Thailand this morning.

The motorist had collected 20 pupils from a village and were taking them to the Padad Wittayakhom School in Chiang Rai province when an oncoming truck smashed into their vehicle on October 25.

Police officers in the Pa Daet District received a report at 7:30 am, and went to investigate the two-lane road where the crash had occurred. They found a six-wheeler Isuzu truck overturned on the roadside, and a grey Toyota van with its windows shattered and the driver's cabin severely damaged.

Police said the schoolbus driver had died at the scene, while 15 injured students were taken to a hospital to be treated.

They said the Isuzu truck had tried to overtake a car, but crashed head-on into the schoolbus while on the adjacent lane.

Officials said an investigation into the accident is ongoing.

Thailand has one of the world's worst road safety records. Ministers have set the goal of reducing fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.

However, a lack of road safety education in schools along with notoriously easy driving tests, police failures to enforce road laws, and chronic under-investment in infrastructure, all appear to hamper the efforts.