The tourist bus, traveling from Bangkok to a terminal for ferries heading to the island of Koh Pha Ngan, hit a traffic island in the early hours of yesterday, rammed the concrete pole and flipped over, police said.

Television footage showed locals carrying the injured and dead from the mangled wreck in the Kanchanadit district of Surat Thani province, 650 kilometers south of the capital.

"Ten people died at the scene, five men and five women, and 17 people were wounded," Colonel Suriya Nakkeao, police superintendent of Kanchanadit district, said.

"I can confirm that one Indian tourist has been killed," he said.

A Surat Thani tourist police officer confirmed the death toll.

He added that "two British, two Indians and two Luxembourg nationals" were among the 17 people injured, all of whom were in a "serious condition."

Koh Pha Ngan is a resort island neighboring Koh Samui and draws thousands of backpackers to its famous full-moon parties.

Thailand's image as a tourism paradise has recently been tarnished by a series of deaths, including the murder of an Australian tour operator in Phuket on June 20 in an attempted robbery.

Her death came less than a week after two Canadian sisters were found dead in their hotel room on nearby Phi Phi island, showing signs of an extreme toxic reaction.