Bangkok’s ambulance volunteers: Saving lives or putting them at risk?

101 East enters the dangerous world of Bangkok’s volunteer ambulance crews racing to be first at accident scenes.

Thailand has one of the highest rates of road traffic deaths in the world, but its capital, Bangkok, faces a severe shortage of ambulances.

The gap is filled by thousands of informal ambulances run by volunteers.

These emergency responders race to accident scenes in modified vans and pick-up trucks outfitted with stretchers.

Rival volunteer crews compete to reach victims first, and territorial conflicts can sometimes become deadly.

101 East meets the Thai front-line workers risking their lives to save strangers.