A city bus explosion at a Bangkok natural gas filling station last week appears to highlight the dangers of responding to higher gas prices with slapdash propulsion conversions. According to records, the formerly diesel-powered bus was converted using a shipment of used parts from China and had not registered with the government for the conversion, thus avoiding an inspection.
Though the ersatz NGV bus was destroyed and five other cars damaged, there were no passengers at the time and the bus's driver was standing a short distance away. The only person injured was the gas station attendant, who didn't seem to take it as odd that the bus driver didn't want to stand anywhere near the vehicle while it was being fueled. [Bangkok Post via GCC, Photo: Getty Images]