British tourists were injured in a minivan crash in Thailand on Thursday.

Backpackers Lewis David Lunn, 26, and Millie Hatton, 26, were travelling from Krabi province to Phuket with other holidaymakers when the vehicle's brakes allegedly malfunctioned while travelling a downhill road in Krabi province on April 11.

The minivan struck a pickup truck carrying ice and flipped over in front of a laundry shop.

Police Captain Thitikorn Pantubtimthong of the Ao Nang Police Station said officers were notified of the accident at 10:30 am.

Cops arrived at the scene with medics and rescue personnel to give first aid to the nine people injured.

The wounded were identified as British nationals Lewis and Millie along with Turkish man Mustafa Mert Bayindir, 24, Belarusian tourists Yury Yankunets, 44, and Natallia Iliukovich, 36, Russian holidaymakers Maksim Panov, 39, and Tatiana Oksanycheya, 45, Thai native Petchda Maleehuan, 25, and Thai driver Nattawut Patchabun, 42.

All of them were taken to the Wattanapat Hospital Aonang and are in stable conditions, police said.

The van driver Nattawut claimed that he lost control due to faulty brakes. He said: 'I had picked up the tourists to take them to their hotel in Phuket. 

'When we were driving down the hill, the van's brakes stopped working. We kept speeding forward and crashed into another car.'

Suwit, the pickup driver, said he was delivering ice to the Ao Nang subdistrict when the van smashed into his truck.

He said: 'The van was moving at a high speed because it came from a high hill. After colliding with my pickup, it tumbled in front of the laundry shop.'

Police Captain Thitikorn added: 'We plan to summon all parties to the station for thorough questioning.'

Despite being one of the wealthiest countries in Asia, Thailand suffers from chronic underinvestment in its highways and education, contributing to its poor road safety levels. Only a handful of African countries are worse.

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.