Children must be trained on how to avoid danger: experts

[KKr]

7 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Associate Professor Adisak Plitapolkarnpim, who heads the Mahidol University’s National Institute for Child and Family Development, said the tragedy could have been avoided had these children received help or proper training.

Wow, thank you for that revelation.
Going public with such a bold statement and changing parent's and educational institution's attitude away from the usual common sense approach into a scientifically proven, surely underpinned by the results of many years of research, effective method of education, is truly underlining the likelihood of an academically even more stellar career in front of you. 
AND, you got your five minutes of attention from a nitwit journalist, congratulations !

[AGareth2]

2 hours ago, Oziex1 said:

The balcony gave way, it may have been hard for anyone to predict that.

but why were they on the balcony in the rain at that time of night

have the children talked 

or are we to believe the story given

[sawadee1947]

8 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Children must be trained

No !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Train the parents.....they are the stupid!

Don't blame the kids. They did only what the parents showed them.

[DrTuner]

This time they are right. Persistently making sure kids understand balconies are death traps, swimming unattended is not allowed, playing with electric wires is lethal, etc improves their chance of survival. It' a parents job.

[over2you]

I am a senior citizen and was born and raised in a somewhat "poor/underprivileged" area of the UK just after WW2.

I shudder now when I think back to my childhood about the dangerous activities I got up to.

I think that contributing factors here are the Thai culture belief that about fate/lucky/amulets/buying good fortune etc. I also adamantly believe that balcony rail height is too low.

The accident could have happened if both parents had been there.

We have to accept that sometimes shit happens.

R. I. P. 

[Rc2702]

Did the kids not fall through a net which broke? How can this be described as a balcony if that is the case. Pure negligence by the adults involved.

[DM07]

6 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

How many rivers have child proof fencing ? How many lakes have child proof fencing ??

When was the last time you saw child proof fencing at the beach ??

 

It's nanny states that insist on child proofing everything, when they should be concentrating on making sure stupid people don't have kids !!

You do see the difference, between a pool (as part of a house) and a beach though...don't you?!

 

[Jonah Tenner]

8 hours ago, PatOngo said:

OMG! They really have no idea do they?

Completely clueless.

[lamecn]

“Failure to do so is punishable by a jail term of up to three months!

Then who'll take care of the children during the 3 months?

[Lingba]

Trained???like what?...dogs???...how about properly educated

[cornishcarlos]

19 minutes ago, DM07 said:

You do see the difference, between a pool (as part of a house) and a beach though...don't you?!

 

 

Not really, no... They are all potential for drowning of unsupervised children... 

[Rhys]

SAD RIP  BE Strong...

[bheard]

Lot of emphasis on the behaviour of the children here, but how about the cause of the problem - the partial collapse of the balcony? How about an effort to 1. Build it solidly in the first place and 2. Maintain it!!

Sent from my F3116 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[4MyEgo]

As tragic as this is, it is a constant reminder that our kids need our constant guidance, day in and day out, and need us to be with them when they are not in school, until we have done our best in raising them to stand on their own two feet, so to speak.

 

I won't blame either parent on their tragic loss, the mother would have been suffering in her own right with trying to raise 4 kids from the separation and working nights so as to be with them during the day, with some help from her parents, the father would have probably been struggling as well being away from his kids, not easy on both sides, the only thing parents can do is try to guide their kids, educate them and nurture them, jointly, regardless if they are separated or not, been there done that, but that's another story.

 

For anyone out their who is not a parent yet, if your not prepared to put in 110% of your blood and sweat to guide, educate and support your kids financially whether separated or not, then please don't have any, as it wouldn't be fair on them.

 

 

[jing jing]

Obviously, the problem is a lack of lawyers to seek someone to blame and sue. In the west, all things with even the slightest possibility if causing bodily harm - like a cup of hot coffee - are fodder for a lucrative lawsuit.  In this case, parent(s) would likely be up on charges, which would make everyone feel much better.

[hotchilli]

22 hours ago, cmsally said:

At the very least there should have been a child safety lock on the door to the balcony , so that no child could get access to the balcony. If the grandparents were in the building why could one of them not sleep with the children until the mother returns?

No amount of training can prevent a balcony disaster, there should have been a lock, simple as that.

Exactly my thinking, the mother in her defense was out working trying to find money to raise the family.. leaving the children "not alone" but in the care of her parents... they should have properly cared for & supervised the kids at all times.
However from the post it seems they locked the kids in the room while they retired to bed in their own room, that was the fatal mistake!!!

Thinking the kids were ok instead of "making sure" they were ok!!!

Unfortunately they paid the ultimate price for failure of care to minors & will have to live with their in-actions for the rest of their collective lives!!

[KiwiKiwi]

Children must be trained on how to avoid danger:

 

No kidding Sherlock.. Look at the way Thai kids behave - and their dim parents. Parenting in Thailand is the consequence of a natural urge to reproduce - no thought required, and if the downsides of being a parent hit (and they will), drown it out with cheap beer or whiskey. Welcome to Thailand, where 10-year-olds ride motorcycles with the blessing of their parents.

 

Teaching kids to build a safe and secure life is the major responsibility of parents, yet Thais need these yoyos to tell them that? What's wrong with this picture?

[Krataiboy]

Its all about survival here, whether you are a child or adult. The roads are murderous, violent crime rates sky high and child abuse is routine.

 

Watching life unfold around me here, I am torn between the delights and drawbacks of two contrasting cultures.

 

In Thailand, everybody learns the hard way what life is all about and what its hazards are - not least youngsters, who are exposed to all sorts of hazards and dangers in a way which would not be tolerated in the highly-regulated and child-safety-obsessed West.

 

On the plus side, Thai boys and girls at least learn to cope with their own particular environment, albeit sometimes at a high price. In contrast, Their equivalents in places like the UK are often so molly-coddled by overly protective parents that they end up vulnerable and unable to cope with everyday situations.

 

Here, you learn grow up fast if you want to grow up at all.

 

Every time I see an underage boy speeding on a motorbike sans crash helmet, hair streaming in the wind and a mile-wide smile on his face, I am jerked back to my own similar freewheeling UK childhood in the Fifties. And I honestly I don't know whether to frown in disapproval at such wantonly foolish behavior or laugh at the lucky little devil!

Edited May 6, 2018 by Krataiboy

[ravip]

21 hours ago, billd766 said:

 

Not quite correct.

 

In the west many parents, married single or living together DO leave their children alone. If you don't believe me read most local newspapers or the BBC News websites and it happens somewhere on a daily or weekly basis.

 

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/nspcc-warning-coventry-parents-over-13343281

 

https://www.burtonmail.co.uk/news/burton-news/shock-figures-show-more-more-275988

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11498123/Arrests-for-leaving-kids-home-alone-made-every-day.html

 

https://www.churchill.com/press-office/releases/2016/a-generation-of-children-alone-in-the-home

 

http://www3.hants.gov.uk/childrens-services/families/parent-support/children-out-alone.htm

 

There are many more pages of them. All I did was Google children left alone in the UK and got to Page 3 of about 24,200,000 results (0.50 seconds) and found those. 

Most here at TV, prefer to ignore whats happening at home and keep bashing Thailand. After all they live in Thailand, and TV is about Thailand. So why bother whats happening back at home?

 

[Expatthailover]

On 05/05/2018 at 8:19 AM, PatOngo said:

I would consider myself as fairly well travelled and nowhere, nowhere have I seen or heard of more balcony accidents/mishaps as in Thailand............. Anyone?

90% of statistics are made up on the spot.

Do you travel far from your armchair tv and computer?

Tragic accidents to children happen everywhere in the world

.sadly.

Not that long ago a father of 6 or more ( a welfare recipient witj various partners ) hatched a scheme to get national recognition and sympathy.

Plan...set his house on fire with the kids inside and then go in and rescue them.

Plan was hatched with the mother of some of them.

Result they all died in the fire.

He was convicted but still claimed to be a victim

Happened in the uk. 

 

Edited May 6, 2018 by Expatthailover

[Expatthailover]

On 05/05/2018 at 9:17 AM, Get Real said:

Looks to me like you found the worst village in Thailand. While it´s very fun to exaggerate ti the most hillarious limits, you must try to keep youself to a little bit of truth.
I am quite sure that most of the parents or grandparents looking after children in the village are fairly good to even good at doing that. You, on the other hand, have choosen two possible options:

 

1. Only to be irritated and only see everything bad, so that you can complain all the time and make your own and other peoples life miserable.

 

2. Just do like so many other that comes here. You see yourself as a superior, and everyone around you is upholding a lower quality regarding everything in life.

 

Surely, if you sit down and think it over, you can find out that at least 50% of the families do take care. You just missed it in your hunt to find something to complain on.

Great post.

[Autonuaq]

On 5/5/2018 at 6:59 AM, YetAnother said:

12 year olds can survive , unsupervised, in a giant city like bangkok, without succumbing to all the negative possibilities there ? in what universe ?

Look around you see on the street many children surviving without parents. Street wise kids they know how to survive in an urban environment.

 

And not only in bangkok in many cities and place around the world.

 

Where i come from they have a nickname for those children.

Key children because they have the key of the house door with them to enter home and wait til the parent are back home from work

 

 

[KiwiKiwi]

4 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

Its all about survival here, whether you are a child or adult. The roads are murderous, violent crime rates sky high and child abuse is routine.

 

Watching life unfold around me here, I am torn between the delights and drawbacks of two contrasting cultures.

 

In Thailand, everybody learns the hard way what life is all about and what its hazards are - not least youngsters, who are exposed to all sorts of hazards and dangers in a way which would not be tolerated in the highly-regulated and child-safety-obsessed West.

 

On the plus side, Thai boys and girls at least learn to cope with their own particular environment, albeit sometimes at a high price. In contrast, Their equivalents in places like the UK are often so molly-coddled by overly protective parents that they end up vulnerable and unable to cope with everyday situations.

 

Here, you learn grow up fast if you want to grow up at all.

 

Every time I see an underage boy speeding on a motorbike sans crash helmet, hair streaming in the wind and a mile-wide smile on his face, I am jerked back to my own similar freewheeling UK childhood in the Fifties. And I honestly I don't know whether to frown in disapproval at such wantonly foolish behavior or laugh at the lucky little devil!

I expect when he comes off the bike at speed, and gets his head stoved in, then the idiot grin that identifies Thais will disappear.

 

Then of course the parents who allow him to do this will be off down the wat to pray for better luck.

 

Nothing whatever to do with luck. Everything to do with stupid.

[Eligius]

One of the first major experiences of 'culture shock' I had when I came to Thailand was to see adults (usually parents or relatives) riding motorbikes with their tiny little tot (sometimes as young as two) precariously perched in front of them with no helmet on their head, and where they could EASILY be thrown off into oncoming traffic (or traffic from behind). It still happens - all the time. And I still cannot accept it. 

 

I asked myself: is it that Thai parents love their children less than we do ours? Or is it just stupidity? I came to the conclusion that Thais do not love their kids less than we do, no.

 

It is just stupidity. Rank and utter deadly stupidity.

 

Edited May 6, 2018 by Eligius

[Sir Dude]

Children need to be trained on a whole lot more than that and many parents from all over the world have failed miserably on this front, only turning out entitled monsters with no sense of anything other than themselves.

 

Edit - As an aside, I think the photos the Thai media have taken and published here on this one are a little too much and an invasion of the grieving parents privacy...not that the  media gives a toss though.

Edited May 6, 2018 by Sir Dude

[overherebc]

On 05/05/2018 at 12:22 PM, SABloke said:

It seems people are missing the point: the kids didn't fall because they were not "trained" - they fell because the balcony collapsed! I would've fallen if I  happened to be there and I'm very well trained, thank you  

The balcony didn't collapse. It was a homemade drying shelf fitted to the balcony that collapsed.

[KiwiKiwi]

2 hours ago, Sir Dude said:

Children need to be trained on a whole lot more than that and many parents from all over the world have failed miserably on this front, only turning out entitled monsters with no sense of anything other than themselves.

 

Edit - As an aside, I think the photos the Thai media have taken and published here on this one are a little too much and an invasion of the grieving parents privacy...not that the  media gives a toss though.

There you go... where there's no sense, there's no feeling. QED.

[KiwiKiwi]

32 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Most here probably consider Thailand their home, and couldn't give a stuff what happens in the UK nor about those types posts from the defenders of the realm that will make any excuse for Thai stupidity, recklessness and immature behaviour. 

 

Off you go now, there's a good lad. 

 

Describes me pretty well...

[freebyrd]

Children must be trained on how to avoid danger: experts

Experts?! - talk about stating the bloody obvious!!

[KiwiKiwi]

14 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Exactly my thinking, the mother in her defense was out working trying to find money to raise the family.. leaving the children "not alone" but in the care of her parents... they should have properly cared for & supervised the kids at all times.
However from the post it seems they locked the kids in the room while they retired to bed in their own room, that was the fatal mistake!!!

Thinking the kids were ok instead of "making sure" they were ok!!!

Unfortunately they paid the ultimate price for failure of care to minors & will have to live with their in-actions for the rest of their collective lives!!

 

 

Not to worry, a trip down the wat, a meal for the useless monks and a few 'pacawato's' - that ought to work .

Edited May 6, 2018 by KiwiKiwi