"We'll give family one million baht" for death of Canadian tourist says owner

 

Caption: "Zipline" shut down

 

"We'll give family one million baht" for death of Canadian tourist says owner

 

Thai media reported that an investigation was underway at Flight of the Gibbon in Mae Orn district of Chiang Mai. 

 

The zipline facility has been ordered shut down following the death of a 25 year old Canadian tourist on Saturday. 

 

Spencer Charl (name transliterated from Thai) plummeted to his death when wires and a harness gave way. 

 

Forensics teams led by Pol Lt-Col Thanandorn Withayawuthikun were on the scene on Sunday examining wires, a harness and pulleys. 

 

Kriangkrai Sihaamphai said on behalf of the adventure facility that they complied with all inspections. The latest one that they passed was in March. 

 

He believed a pulley had become detached. 

 

He said there was insurance in place so that one million baht would go to the victim's family. 

 

Arkhom Sommana of Huay Kaew sub-district ordered the facility shut.

 

Thai PBS reported that Flight of the Gibbon was under investigation for forest encroachment and an accident involving a tourist in 2016. The encroachment issue was still going through the courts. 

 

Relatives of the victim had arrived in Chiang Mai.

 

Daily News pulled no punches in saying that it was a case of acting after the event.

 

The line had a weight limit of 125 kilograms. The weight of the tourist was part of the investigation, they said.

 

Source: Thai PBS

 

 -- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-04-15

and some flowers and a gift basket, right?

No gold chain?

So everyone needs to take note that 'attractions' in Thailand probably have USD 30k or less public liability insurance.

 

Sort of puts the cries for Falangs to be adequately insured into the right perspective.

12 minutes ago, webfact said:

one million baht would go to the victim's family.

Along with..................................

<deleted> sad the price of a life over here !

pathetic.

 

 

15 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

and some flowers and a gift basket, right?

 And Don't forget the Fruit .....1 Million Baht ?? Life is VERY Cheap Here in'it ??

Big deal! Thai think 1 million baht is 1 million USD?

i think that will just get the poor guy home, how many more accidents are we going to hear of , these lethal zip lines here in Thailand

28 minutes ago, webfact said:

Arkhom Sommana of Huay Kaew sub-district ordered the facility shut.

Change his surname to Som Nam Na

They don't understand exchange rates. They think people with USD are 30 times richer (big money) than Thai people (small money).

 

This is the justification for double pricing and and many other rip offs.

36 minutes ago, webfact said:

We'll give family one million baht"

IF they sign papers promising end of story. Then, business as usual.

It depends on the circumstances of family dependents. 1 million baht won't go far, less than a year's income in Canada. Much as I dislike lawyers, that's where I would be heading in their shoes.

30 minutes ago, Thaiwrath said:

Along with..................................

<deleted> sad the price of a life over here !

No, the limit of cover of an insurance policy, nothing to do with "the price of a life in Thailand"...Jesus...

4 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

No, the limit of cover of an insurance policy, nothing to do with "the price of a life in Thailand"...Jesus...

 

51 minutes ago, webfact said:

"We'll give family one million baht" for death of Canadian tourist says owner

So who is giving the family the money ? 

If it is the insurance company, the zipline owner is giving the family <deleted> all.

If convicted of negligence, the company should compensate the family a hell of a lot more than the insurance limit. 

54 minutes ago, webfact said:

Kriangkrai Sihaamphai said on behalf of the adventure facility that they complied with all inspections. The latest one that they passed was in March. 

As they had duly paid the 500 Bahts "inspection fees"...

 

They are also to dumb to see the one million Bahts, for a Canadian family, isn't compensation, it is an insult.

48 minutes ago, mngmn said:

No gold chain?

Not unless it was weight tested.

$41,928.50 Canadian. Wow. About a year's wages (more or less) for the deceased. He had 40 more work years ahead of him. I believe Canadian courts would award 40 years wages to his estate.

17 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

It depends on the circumstances of family dependents. 1 million baht won't go far, less than a year's income in Canada. Much as I dislike lawyers, that's where I would be heading in their shoes.

Going off at a slight tangent, does this mean that financial compensation (in Thailand and other countries) should be on a sliding scale depending on the nationality of the injured/deceased?

 

If something like that ever happened, I suppose it would evolve into demands for checking the customer's passport and whether they were allowed to participate or be barred.

Perhaps an insurance waiver would be requested to be signed. Potentially a whole can of worms.

15 minutes ago, Thaiwrath said:

 

So who is giving the family the money ? 

If it is the insurance company, the zipline owner is giving the family <deleted> all.

If convicted of negligence, the company should compensate the family a hell of a lot more than the insurance limit. 

Effectively, the owner is providing the money!  That's why owners of businesses have insurance, they pay premiums so that affected customers get compensation. 

 

If the company is convicted of negligence, and there is a claim from his family, the court will decide on the appropriate level of compensation.

49 minutes ago, mercman24 said:

i think that will just get the poor guy home, how many more accidents are we going to hear of , these lethal zip lines here in Thailand

RIP, unfortunate.

However if I weighed 125-200 kilos as reported, I would stay the hell away from any zipline or gravity-based thrills.

125kg = 275.578 lbs.  All "gut & butt" ...no brains.

54 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Going off at a slight tangent, does this mean that financial compensation (in Thailand and other countries) should be on a sliding scale depending on the nationality of the injured/deceased?

 

If something like that ever happened, I suppose it would evolve into demands for checking the customer's passport and whether they were allowed to participate or be barred.

Perhaps an insurance waiver would be requested to be signed. Potentially a whole can of worms.

No need to complicate, just as long as everyone is aware that public liability insurance is woefully inadequate in Thailand.

What about VIP lanes for Canadians at Svampy and Sticky rice/mango ?

 

The Offer of Money is an extreme insult... 

 

A far better announcement would surely have been... "We will not let this death pass in vain, we will re-rig, re-train staff, put in place safety protocols to ensure this tragedy never occurs again"... 

Imagine how much the company would have to fork out in his home country or the US

A little over 30k USD for blood money.  In the US the civil courts would award a couple of million USD and multiples more for punitive damages. 

One million Baht is really nothing in the eyes of foreigners. It is an insult as Lupatria notes. There are other standards than here. The zipline business should be shut permanently.

He was 125 KG I read so bit risky I would say to do this kind of things. Wonder was there a max weight limit / size included in the instructions when people buy a ticket?  

9 minutes ago, connda said:

A little over 30k USD for blood money.  In the US the civil courts would award a couple of million USD and multiples more for punitive damages. 

I don't think the US has much jurisdiction over a business in Chiang Mai. Unless Trump has been holding out on everyone?