Officials seize 30 million baht's worth of pressure washers after man dies washing car

[DaLa]

25 minutes ago, tingtongfarang said:

Renting 4 different houses over 15 years i lost count of the electric shocks i had, One was only 4 years old with 3 pin sockets, Not even an earth cable behind any socket,

It was necessary to stand on a rubber matt to open the fridge.

That's why I always wear rubber wellies when I'm operating the wife's electric toys.

[Pilotman]

3 minutes ago, MiKT said:

Oh wow, how I hate to see all his "anti-Thai everything" <deleted>. Yes there can be (certainly are) some lousy electrical installations, but this is down to individuals mostly using their local road sweeper or their brother-in-law as a cheap alternative to getting someone at least partially qualified to do the job.

 

If you live in a dwelling that has not got adequate earthing, circuit breakers and RCD's then you certainly deserve to have to pull the plug on your washing machine any time you want to empty the machine, its just ridiculous. What about your fridge, or TV, or.............. but in any case, if there is a fault in the washing machine, it is unlikely to be Thailand's fault, I can't recall any local manufacturers. In fact, in common with most counties, Thailand laws insist that electrical appliances are safe when sold, as you can see by todays article on a person killed by a faulty pressure washer, imported via the internet.

 

It is your own responsibility to keep yourself and your family safe by having a safe electrical installation in your house; and its the same in every country. I was once blown right across the kitchen and had black and blue bruises all down my chest and arms because I leant on the washing machine and the cold water tap in a flat I had recently moved into.

 

Naturally I had checked that the electricity outlets were all the latest (British 3 square pin) items, but on investigating I found that the was no earth wire in the place and the fuses were only on the neutral wires. 

 

Where was this wonderful death trap............... England of course.

 

If you have the slightest worry about the electrical (or plumbing come to that) installation in your housing, don't risk your families health, write (send photo's) to Crossy, he really is an expert on Thai home installations.

 

Thais can build railways, airports, etc. in accordance with the strictest international standards and the actual standard of Thai workmanship in properly supervised installations (with Thai supervisors before you gloat) is as good as in any country.

 

And...........bleating about Thai doctors and dentists, is just pathetic, I have lived and worked in 16 different countries and none of them, including UK, Germany, France (especially France) have as good hospitals and doctors as in Thailand. As for dentists, some of the best in the world work here and medical tourism was (before C19) a very flourishing business as the costs are much lower than other countries.

 

Bah Humbug, why do you live here if everything is so bad? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are quite missing the point.  Everything is not 'wine and roses in Thailand, far from it.  What you read on this post has got very little to do with liking living here, or seeing it as a great place to spend your time. of course it is.  Thailand  is barely out of the third world development stage and they have got a lot very wrong indeed, not least their education and technical development, their adherence to the Rule of Law, such that it is here and the tackling of wide scale, low level  corruption, at all levels of society.  That is just stating the obvious to anyone who has lived here for any length of time.  You should be able to see that distinction.

As for the doctors and dentists, their training, if in Thailand, is barely adequate for a modern world and I would never trust a training and university system that you can 'buy into', without necessarily holding the right qualifications for entry. I have met a good few of their medical profession in passing, who's level of technical and scientific  knowledge is very low indeed. I avoid them if I can and I am not alone it that. Like all, generalizations, it doesn't hold for them all and no doubt there are some very competent members of that profession in the larger City international hospitals, I can't say that for the rural ones, who seem to be universally poor. I love living here, I like most Thai people, but I certainly don't see it through rose tinted glasses and they will only improve things if people 'call them out' on these things. 

[Pilotman]

15 minutes ago, DaLa said:

That's why I always wear rubber wellies when I'm operating the wife's electric toys.

Yes, I imagine that it can get quite wet at times. ????

[Prairieboy]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai's exacting standards.

Standards are the same as laws - no matter how 'exacting' they are useless unless; a) people follow them and, b) someone enforces them. 

 

[PETERTHEEATER]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

that didn't meet the Thai's exacting standards. 

555555......

[Scot123]

3 hours ago, Pilotman said:

Here is today's morning laugh;   " Thais exacting standards" .  They wouldn't know an 'exacting standard' if it fell 30 floors onto their heads. Let's start with the Thais 'exacting standards' on useless plastic motorcycle helmets, or how about the Thais 'exacting building standards', or the Thais 'education exacting standards' in state schools. Yea, right. And people wonder why I am am so suspicious of Thai doctors and dentists, like they are all the exception to the Thai rule that any old <deleted> will do, so long as you don't get caught. 

You might be surprised. My sister in law is a dentist whose Doctorate is in surgery/surgeon which she just finished in the USA. You may also be surprised that the cream of Thailand's docotors and dentists work for the government in their hospitals and daddy bought me a degree are all in private hospitals which i have found on a whole are no more than clinics. Oh and her English is very good however her written English and grammar is the best I have seen and far better than mine. 

[PETERTHEEATER]

It is my understanding that the independent Quality Control of these imported devices was entrusted to a subsidiary company in far Cathay listed as.......C.H. Ina Co. Ltd.  ???? No mention of the manner in which the deceased connected the device to his domestic electrical system installed to exacting Thai standards. How a grounded circuit and RCD could fail is beyond me.....

[PETERTHEEATER]

2 hours ago, DaLa said:

That's why I always wear rubber wellies when I'm operating the wife's electric toys.

Kinky! Battery operated toys?

[Pilotman]

8 minutes ago, Scot123 said:

You might be surprised. My sister in law is a dentist whose Doctorate is in surgery/surgeon which she just finished in the USA. You may also be surprised that the cream of Thailand's docotors and dentists work for the government in their hospitals and daddy bought me a degree are all in private hospitals which i have found on a whole are no more than clinics. Oh and her English is very good however her written English and grammar is the best I have seen and far better than mine. 

As I say, they are exceptions to every generalisation.  I was once butchered by a Dentist in a Thai Dental Teaching hospital so I bear the scares, that not all are that competent. 

[ChrisY1]

"didn't meet the Thai's exacting standards."

Maybe customs cops need to do some homework and confiscate these sub Thailand standard foreign tools and equipment.....

But then I guess if the come from China, someone might lose face....so keep the junk coming!

[toofarnorth]

Right where I am sitting I have a plastic socket for plugs.  6 sockets , all twin and earth , trouble is the cable for the mains is only twin , no earth. Why are these allowed to be made ?  Could be chinese I suppose  but I don't like to touch it , if I do I will lose the pc or the fan or the speakers.

[Scot123]

11 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

As I say, they are exceptions to every generalisation.  I was once butchered by a Dentist in a Thai Dental Teaching hospital so I bear the scares, that not all are that competent. 

If you get dental work done by students on the cheap do not expect first class work they are after all students. If you want world class treatment then you have to pay and this is the same in the UK.  

[Pilotman]

Just now, Scot123 said:

If you get dental work done by students on the cheap do not expect first class work they are after all students. If you want world class treatment then you have to pay and this is the same in the UK.  

For goodness sake, stop guessing about a situation, of which you know absolutely nothing!  The dentist in question  was not a student, but a lecturer, who had 2 students with him to watch the procedure. It wasn't cheap.  I had gone there in the false assumption that I would get excellent service. 

[Matzzon]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

30 million baht's worth of substandard foreign tools

Chinese garbage, in other words. Why not say like it is?

[scammed]

there is two things at play here, the one that stands out more

is that none of the previous members had any thought at all to the victim,

it was all a good laugh.

 

the second part is that nearly none of the electric outputs has a wire for ground,

so it wont matter if the tool has this most basic feature

[3NUMBAS]

another bizarre exit to add to the 1000s of previous over the years

[CNXexpat]

2 phase electricity in most new houses and they are talking about exacting standards ????

[3NUMBAS]

thais dont know what an earthing rod is and how to install it in suitable soil

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

There were pumps, high pressure sprays and a host of other equipment imported from abroad and sold on Facebook that didn't meet the Thai's exacting standards

But managed to get through customs?

[DaLa]

1 hour ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Kinky! Battery operated toys?

Still 9 volts, have to be careful with those volts down the wires; especially when wet!

[brianp0803]

Although Thailand may not have the highest standards, it seem other countries (which I will not name) have lower standards.

 I remember “made in China” used to imply low quality cheap product. I am not sure if that reputation has changed.

[Chassa]

6 minutes ago, brianp0803 said:

I remember “made in China” used to imply low quality cheap product

I remember when 'made in Japan' used to imply low quality cheap product.

[Daffy D]

19 minutes ago, Chassa said:

I remember when 'made in Japan' used to imply low quality cheap product.

Yea! I remember those days, just look at them now making some of the best and most reliable goods on the planet.

 

Doubt China will have the same progress, certainly not in my lifetime.

[digger70]

7 hours ago, worgeordie said:

So many ways to die in Thailand,not only in the car

but while washing it !, 

"that didn't meet the Thai's exacting standards." 5555555

regards worgeordie 

 

Yea that takes the cake , Thai Standards.

Look at the electric installations in houses and on the roads . Substandard 

If they call that Thai standards anything that comes into Thailand Gotta be better than what they install here.

[xylophone]

4 hours ago, MiKT said:

Oh wow, how I hate to see all his "anti-Thai everything" <deleted>. Yes there can be (certainly are) some lousy electrical installations, but this is down to individuals mostly using their local road sweeper or their brother-in-law as a cheap alternative to getting someone at least partially qualified to do the job.

 

If you live in a dwelling that has not got adequate earthing, circuit breakers and RCD's then you certainly deserve to have to pull the plug on your washing machine any time you want to empty the machine, its just ridiculous. What about your fridge, or TV, or.............. but in any case, if there is a fault in the washing machine, it is unlikely to be Thailand's fault, I can't recall any local manufacturers. In fact, in common with most counties, Thailand laws insist that electrical appliances are safe when sold, as you can see by todays article on a person killed by a faulty pressure washer, imported via the internet.

As an electrical engineer in my younger life, I am appalled at what I see here, despite your attempts at brushing them aside.

 

Just a few days ago I had to install an earth into the building which some Thai folk I know had turned into a restaurant, and which had no earth wires anywhere, ranging from the electric water heater through to the ovens and microwaves, which registered about 50 to 60 V of stray voltage.

 

It should be noted that this house was built and wired by so-called Thai "tradesmen" but, no earth in sight, and as one electrician here told me, "Thai electricity does not need an earth".

 

Appliances put together here and in Japan and sold here are also subject to this leakage, although the double insulation myth is supposed to put paid to that, but it doesn't.

 

The house I bought and rewired to make it safe, had something which I had never seen before anywhere, even working in Nigeria and Libya, and it was where the live and neutral feed into the roof of the house, on the way to the consumer unit, were stripped and two wires connected to them, dropped through the ceiling into an air conditioner in the bedroom. Luckily I tested the thing even after I had turned off every circuit breaker and even the main circuit breaker in the consumer unit, because it was still live.

 

In effect it could never be made safe, being wired the way it was.

 

My ex g/f bought a laundry here after we split up and I helped her to buy it, and she mentioned to me that she was getting little shocks off of the washing machines, so I went round to investigate and what I saw was a large room full of death traps. No earth to be found anywhere and voltage leaking from just about every one of the machines, so it took me quite a while to drill through the concrete and drive home an earthing rod and then connect earths to the machines.

 

I could also comment on the appalling state of the roads here, with large potholes and drains which are either two or 3 inches below the surface of the road thereby creating a hazard for motorbikes, or drains which are above the road surface, thereby doing nothing whatsoever.

 

And don't get me started on the use of roundabouts because we have a small one here which no one knows how to use, and you take your life in your hands when you go the correct way round it, because people cut across, many times at great speeds, with no consideration whatsoever as to your right of way.

 

Just to finish off this little comment on Thai workmanship, on a regular basis, say once every six weeks, just at the bottom of my road, we encounter some huge explosions, electrical outs and burning smells where pole fuses explode, insulators do the same and occasionally the transformer will do likewise, and this has been going on for years, but has it been fixed........not a chance. 

 

Someone mentioned the medical profession here and I have to agree with them, that there are some very uneducated people in that profession, and that includes the urologist who kept on prescribing different antibiotics for my UTI, despite me asking him to do a culture (my son is a doctor in the UK), on what he was finding, but he didn't and I kept suffering over a few months, until I finally decided to have it out with him and suggest that whatever antibiotics he was prescribing, they just weren't working (I would have thought that was pretty obvious from the state I was in) and a culture would show exactly what bacteria we were dealing with.......and at this point he got very upset with me and ordered me out of his office.

 

A great advertisement for the medical profession, ordering a sick man to go away. Luckily I found another urologist who did a culture and found that the bacteria was ESBL and resistant to most common antibiotics, and whether this was because of all of the months of different antibiotics I was being prescribed, I will never know, but it did result in daily visits to the hospital for intravenous injections of rare and expensive antibiotic (52,000 baht in all).

 

I'm sure you don't want me to fill the pages here with many, many more examples of ineptitude, and before you suggest I leave the place, I have a daughter here, as well as friends and acquaintances, so this is now my life for better or for worse. 

[Scott Tracy]

I am from UK and what I find disconcerting is there are no fuses in the plugs of appliances. The appliances themselves are mostly 2 pin, so having an earth is a waste of time. I also find disconcerting is that in the main circuit breaker box, the mains and lights come off the same circuit breakers, even though we have about 10 breakers on a single floor house. Different horses, I guess....

 

We have an earth rod outside the building for the shower heater we (I) use in the ensuite. 

[Redline]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai's exacting standards. 

Ummmm what ????

[asean]

Thailand has the Thailand Industrial Standards Institute (TISI). When one wants to import any electrical or mechanical device to sell in Thailand customs will ask you for a TISI certificate which involves, giving TISI samples to evaluate and you also have to pay for TISI inspectors to go inspect the factories that produce the products (in China). This process can take a while or you can just undertable the customs officer and illegally sell them on facebook and someone dies.

[Reigntax]

On 8/12/2020 at 4:11 PM, DaLa said:

That's why I always wear rubber wellies when I'm operating the wife's electric toys.

Stick to the battery operated and you can take the rubbers off. 

[norfolkc]

On 8/12/2020 at 10:07 AM, JoePai said:

substandard foreign tools

 

Read : Chinese 

Sure why don't they just say what it is so people know what not to buy