A bus carrying dozens of tourists overturned on the way to a popular holiday island in Thailand.

The vehicle was driving to 'White Lotus' island Koh Samui when it reportedly lost control along the highway in Chumphon on Monday, June 23.

Terrified passengers screamed as the bus veered off the road and flipped over into a flooded ditch.

Police arrived at the scene after receiving a report at 2:50 am. They found the overturned bus lying on the roadside while a white Ford pickup truck was also damaged nearby.

Seven tourists suffered minor wounds and two were seriously injured. Eight were rushed to the Sawi Hospital while one declined treatment.

Police Lieutenant Kriangchai Chumkaew of the Sawi Police Station said: ‘The cause of the incident is still unknown because we are investigating whether the pickup truck driver and the bus driver were involved and were conflicting parties or not.

‘We also have to wait for forensic police to inspect both vehicles to find the traces of the collision.'

Koh Samui has seen a surge of tourism among US, British and European travellers following the success of The White Lotus's third season.

The Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, which serves as the show's fictional setting, saw a tenfold increase in demand, its executive vice president Marc Speichert said.

The spike in interest, called the 'White Lotus Effect', also boosted tourism in the previous filming locations of Hawaii and Sicily.

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.