Five children electrocuted in floodwaters and heavy rain in downtown Udon Thani

[thailand49]

You look at how things are constructed in this country. Anyone and anything can be hooked up with no permit or inspection. Legal or illegal just tap in wired hanging from everywhere.

Several years ago I came out heavy rain to go home from a club the entire area was flooded standing high ground with my bike I watch should I?

I started walking water close to the waist although I knew the area I was concern I notice lots were slipping at times first thought snakes next wires everywhere I saw a small hotel cheap got a room called it s night.

I question the underground wire project in Pattaya Klang I don't want to find out! 

[MrJ2U]

3 hours ago, macahoom said:

 

Why do some people think electrocution always involves death?

 

e·lec·tro·cute

/əˈlektrəˌkyo͞ot/

 

verb

past tense: electrocuted; past participle: electrocuted

1. injure or kill someone by electric shock.

   "a man was electrocuted when he switched on the Christmas tree lights"

And downplaying voltage pulsating through flooded school grounds is ludicrous!

 

The ones who's opinion, "No big deal" are haphazard at best.

They must not have kids.

 

This isn't normal. 

[pacovl46]

6 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

Were they electrocuted or did they receive electric shocks? 

It's a common misperception to assume that electrocution means death by an electric current passing through one's body. Technically speaking it can mean death or severe injury sustained by electricity passing through one's body. 

[pacovl46]

6 hours ago, toofarnorth said:

When I read the headline I expected them to be dead .This is what happens to folk after electrocution.

Nope, while it happens a lot that people die after electrocution, its not the norm. Electrocution by definition can mean death or severe injury.

[mancub]

In another story, Sombat the sparky refused to work on an "electric chair" as, in his opinion, he considered it an ffffing death trap.

[AsianAtHeart]

24 minutes ago, androokery said:

I'm actually happy this discussion is centered on the proper meaning of words, more of this in the future please. But can someone tell me how wide a berth I should give power poles whenever I walk past them in the rain, to stay on the safe side? At what distance would the electricity in the water be just a tingle?

You've asked a hard question.  Much depends on how much voltage, how many amperes, etc. are being released into the water, and what the grounding capacity is of the soil/substrate under the water.  Clay does not conduct well, and most of the soil strata around these parts will be clay.  If there are grounding rods at the poles, it should help to increase the ground absorption of the electricity--but there probably aren't any.  Steel pipes, concrete (especially reinforced concrete), or other metallic surfaces exposed to the water near the poles could also help to ground out the electricity flow.

 

However, one thing is very important to understand.  Assuming that one is standing on firm, dry ground, upon which there is a very high-voltage wire making ground contact (e.g. 600,000 volts or more), that electricity will be invisibly "pooling" out, almost as if it were a cascade of water that was gradually absorbed into the ground.  Because a water-containing human body will more easily conduct electricity than the dry ground over which it is flowing, and because electricity will take the path of least resistance, any differential created by distance from the electric source may cause electrocution.  In order to "flee" the scene, one must shuffle, not walk, away from the source.  Taking a full step would create a considerable voltage potential between point A (foot nearest the wire) and point B (foot furthest away) as the voltage is dissipating over distance.  This potential could be fatal.

 

A friend of mine who works on live, high-voltage lines, told the story of some colleagues who, while operating from a boom truck, had neglected to lower it before moving the truck--the boom then coming into contact with the lines, electrifying the whole truck with very high voltage.  (I don't remember the details, but perhaps one of the lines had actually broken, falling onto the truck.)  They tried to escape, jumping out from the truck as far as they could to then shuffle along the ground.  One unfortunate fellow proceeded to trip, and fell headlong to the ground--immediately being electrocuted when his head contacted the ground further away from where his feet were.  He didn't survive, unfortunately.

 

Obviously, this scenario would not be directly applicable to a flood situation, but it illustrates some important principles to consider with respect to electricity.  Points of contact must be thought of.  If you must touch a live wire, do it with one hand only and do not use both hands to do so, as this would mean the electricity will follow a path through your body that passes through the heart--from one arm to the other.

[metisdead]

A troll post and a flaming reply has been removed.

[Robbie2618]

It does just amazes me some of the thinking here, the school up the road from me has electrical wires about a dozen of them hanging from the pole down to about 3 feet from the ground well within reach. Just 30 or so yards a way there are always students gathering at the school entrance. I just cant understand how the school faculty, parents and government employees cant see the danger. 

[metisdead]

A post with a trolling image has been removed.

[steven100]

The 19yr old deserves recognition and a medal.   imo

[BangkokReady]

7 hours ago, macahoom said:

Why do some people think electrocution always involves death?

Because it used to mean that and is based on the word "execute" which means to be killed.

 

It should never have been allowed to change.  I don't really understand why it was. ????‍♂️

[BangkokReady]

2 hours ago, Robbie2618 said:

I just cant understand how the school faculty, parents and government employees cant see the danger. 

I struggle to understand how people can have a whole range of beliefs here that seem completely illogical to me.

 

The answer is simply that they are raised to think this way and it is very hard, if not impossible, to change them.

[BangkokReady]

3 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

It's a common misperception to assume that electrocution means death by an electric current passing through one's body.

It's the original meaning and it was created based on "execution" meaning to put someone to death.  So not exactly a misconception.

 

Many people don't really "accept" this relatively modern used of the word, although dictionaries do use it.

[Paradise Pete]

The original Thai article probably used fai-chɔ́t, which means to shock with electricity, rather than tùuk-fai-chɔ́t-dtaai, which includes the word for death.

 

But if I look up fai-chɔ́t it says: shock (electrocute), which may be the reason for the misleading headline.

 

[Iamfalang]

A normal conversation 100-years ago.

 

Hey, Billy was playing golf and was electrocuted.

 

Did he die?

 

No.

 

OK

 

You always ask if they died.....................because you are not 100% it means death.

 

I got electrocuted playing in the shower with my hair dryer.

 

I died

 

[JeffersLos]

When will they learn to use overhead cables!!!

[Jonathan Swift]

No one was electrocuted. Yes the term is often used and misused to refer to anyone who gets an electric shock, but Most dictionaries adhere to the strict definition of death by electric shock. When it is used to describe casual or non serious injury from shock it is considered to not be a proper use of the term. Electrocute comes from "to execute by electricity,  electro-execute" and the term was coined when the electric chair first began as a means of execution. Electrocute literally means killed by electricity. Nobody died here. These people were shocked and injured by electricity. Serious injury from electric shock is sometimes considered electrocution. It doesn't appear that anyone was seriously injured.  But that is not a fully proper and literal meaning of the word. When a word is misused often enough and for long enough it picks up a new secondary meaning due to common use. That's why we have dictionaries. 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Jonathan Swift

[Jonathan Swift]

11 hours ago, transam said:

I did, until you Googled it....????

Because the term was coined specifically to describe the first electric chair executions, and is literally derived from electro-execute. Most dictionaries adhere to this strict definition, when it is used to describe casual or non serious injury from shock it is considered to not be a proper use of the term. 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Jonathan Swift

[Jonathan Swift]

14 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

Were they electrocuted or did they receive electric shocks? 

There you have it. When this term is misused in a news story it muddies the topic. Basically it is the more ignorant and less literate that depart from the original and most common definition of electro-execute. If a term is misused often enough and for long enough its misused form gets adopted into common useage and acquires a secondary definition, however improper. Most dictionaries define electrocute  as death by electric shock, some allow it as a description of death or serious injury by shock. No dictionaries show it as a proper term for non life threatening shock.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Jonathan Swift

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, toofarnorth said:

When I read the headline I expected them to be dead .This is what happens to folk after electrocution.

Except in Thailand.

[mrfill]

Electocution involves death. Where death does not occur, the word is electrify.

[dpcjsr]

Rest assured that the mayor will form a committee to do an investigation to develop a solution that will never be implemented. Sadly true. 

[metisdead]

A post has been removed:

 

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[ThaSalaPaul]

12 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

Because it used to mean that and is based on the word "execute" which means to be killed.

 

It should never have been allowed to change.  I don't really understand why it was. ????‍♂️

This article explains it very well
 Electrocution: A Shocking Misuse? : Word Count : Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus

[Sydebolle]

Look at the overhead wiring and then try to imagine, how the underground wiring might look like.  

I seriously wonder, why the PEA is not checking "accomplished work" prior to pay sub-contractors? As they have to do the job anyway, it puzzles me, why everything has to be done two, three, four or many more times. 

But, this is Thailand, belongs to the Thais and it is yet another proof of their absolute ignorance or carelessness of what happens around them ...... as long as there is Lakorn, Somtam and Moo Ping ???? 

[transam]

15 hours ago, Robbie2618 said:

It does just amazes me some of the thinking here, the school up the road from me has electrical wires about a dozen of them hanging from the pole down to about 3 feet from the ground well within reach. Just 30 or so yards a way there are always students gathering at the school entrance. I just cant understand how the school faculty, parents and government employees cant see the danger. 

Like most things in LOS, nobody cares....????

[digger70]

On 9/17/2022 at 9:57 AM, toofarnorth said:

When I read the headline I expected them to be dead .This is what happens to folk after electrocution.

Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death.

[Reigntax]

23 hours ago, Photoguy21 said:

They brought in their electrical engineers but why? Presumably it was some of their electrical engineers that approved the installation.

To reset their trap in case one a breaker tripped of a fuse blew

[Photoguy21]

2 minutes ago, Reigntax said:

To reset their trap in case one a breaker tripped of a fuse blew

Very possibly. I have worked on jobs overseas with Thai engineers and found them to be very good. Having said that I have watched them here in Thailand and am afraid I don't have the same respect for them. I recently watched fibre optic cables being installed and if ever there was a case of not conducting the installation properly, there was an excellent demonstration of how it should never be done.

[worgeordie]

Plastic bags for insulation plus heavy rain ....can be a deadly combination.

regards worgeordie