Man Electrocuted At Bali Hai Pier

[mcd]

The Pattaya Police were informed by the Water Rescuers on Bali Hai Pier at half past midnight of 2nd August that a Thai male tourist had been electrocuted while sightseeing at

the pier and was in a serious condition after being sent to Banglamung Hospital.

The police arrived at the hospital to find Mr. Prayong Ngamsard, aged 25, a tourist from Udon Thani province unconscious in bed. It was found that Mr. Prayong’s was badly burnt.

While reporters were questioning Mr. Prayong’s relatives; we were sadly informed by the doctor that Mr. Prayong had died.

Reporters went back to Bali Hai Pier to get more information. An eyewitness, a boat parker, told us that he saw Mr. Prayong sightseeing at Bali Hai Pier. Suddenly when Mr. Prayong was swinging his arms around, his hand came into contact with a “live wire” that was sticking out from an electric post and was electrocuted, so he called authorities at the scene.

When we inspected the so-called “wire”, we found that it was only wrapped with black scotch tape, which was extremely dangerous to be left there in public, an accident in the waiting, and it wasn’t long before it happened to unfortunate Mr. Prayong.

http://www.pattayapeople.com/default.asp?F...;IdArticle=6879

[TheWalkingMan]

...

When we inspected the so-called “wire”, we found that it was only wrapped with black scotch tape, which was extremely dangerous to be left there in public, an accident in the waiting, and it wasn’t long before it happened to unfortunate Mr. Prayong.

http://www.pattayapeople.com/default.asp?F...;IdArticle=6879

A live wire wrapped with black scotch tape???? Note to self.... always presume taped wires can shock.

TheWalkingMan

[Humphrey Bear]

So, what was the cable for? Who installed it? What voltage?

Working in construction, I get jolted at least once a year by anything up to 400V lines. No real problems, but I do have safety boots on and I'm not standing on a sea-soaked pier.

Surely there is some official inspection of all fittings, both at the time of installation and at regular intervals for maintenance.

Feel sorry for the poor guy - but doubt that there will be compensation from the City (or whoever is responsible for the pier).

[cubes2]

So, what was the cable for? Who installed it? What voltage?

Working in construction, I get jolted at least once a year by anything up to 400V lines. No real problems, but I do have safety boots on and I'm not standing on a sea-soaked pier.

Surely there is some official inspection of all fittings, both at the time of installation and at regular intervals for maintenance.

Feel sorry for the poor guy - but doubt that there will be compensation from the City (or whoever is responsible for the pier).

What a bright spark you are, thought you were ok to you said that.

[Kerryd]

So, what was the cable for? Who installed it? What voltage?

What ever it's original purpose, it was probably modified/altered/sabatoged so that someone else could use the juice for their own purposes. As you are no doubt aware, even a low voltage line can kill (it's the Amps that kill, not the Volts, from what I've been lead to believe).

Surely there is some official inspection of all fittings, both at the time of installation and at regular intervals for maintenance.

Surely you are joking ?

You would expect (coming from Western countries) that they would have some kind of Fire/Electrical safety inspections, especially with all the apartment/condo/hotel/club fires they've had here, mostly due to electrical faults. Unfortunately, like many other aspects of life here, even if there were proper inspections, a blue or red note under the table would probably get you a passing grade on any inspection.

Feel sorry for the poor guy - but doubt that there will be compensation from the City (or whoever is responsible for the pier).

Surely you are joking ? (part 2)

No doubt the city will (would) deny any responsibility for this, and no one will know who is actually responsible for the pier, and the whole matter will eventually fade away and be forgotten.

[kurgen]

condolences to the family.

Kerry's right, officials will be playing "pass the parcel" with the buck for the next few months

[Humphrey Bear]

So, what was the cable for? Who installed it? What voltage?

What ever it's original purpose, it was probably modified/altered/sabatoged so that someone else could use the juice for their own purposes. As you are no doubt aware, even a low voltage line can kill (it's the Amps that kill, not the Volts, from what I've been lead to believe).

Yes, it's the current flowing through the body that does the damage, but low voltage is supposed to be safer than higher voltage supplies - which is why America and construction sites use 110v supply, rather than the more normal (for the rest of the world) 220-240v supply.

The drawback is that to deliver the same wattage (to run a computer, for instance) the cable should be thicker, to provide less resistance, less heat loss, less energy loss. I have had several small fires on sites I have been running, because people go down to the local market and buy extension leads / multiple point leads that are designed for 13-15amp usage, but with a 220v supply. Won't cope with equipment that uses 110v at the same wattage.

I agree with your other statements - just trying to encourage the local authorities to do a proper job and, as officials elected to public office by the public, to consider safety of that same public.

[Tony Clifton]

So, what was the cable for? Who installed it? What voltage?

Working in construction, I get jolted at least once a year by anything up to 400V lines. No real problems, but I do have safety boots on and I'm not standing on a sea-soaked pier.

Surely there is some official inspection of all fittings, both at the time of installation and at regular intervals for maintenance.

Feel sorry for the poor guy - but doubt that there will be compensation from the City (or whoever is responsible for the pier).

We are about to find out that the UK legal system is as ineffective against Thaksin as Thailand's.

English never miss a chance to lecture Thais on democracy and this and that - let's see if they can also walk the walk. So far their reaction is no different from Thailand's just before Thaksin's first elections.

Well, generally in the UK people get convicted by court according to evidence, and not by minority elitist public opinion according to ideology and military coups.

So, yes, in terms of democracy and the application of due process in their courts the UK is far more developed than Thailand.

Entire housing estates are sold here without inspection. One came here with a clipboard and his whole check list had to do with the appearance of the house only , not it's electrical system or plumbing. As with everything else here, as long as it there and that it looks good...

I remember seeing a picture of a ground wire attached to a plastic pipe.

Ever been to a night market or food shops when it rains on the improvised electrical laid out on the ground?

Death traps are everywhere here.

[Thaddeus]

During my days as an IT engineer, I've probably had more current pass through my body than you would think was humanly possible. No matter what precautions you take, accidents do happen, take any electrical equipment apart for a living and the law of probabilities would state that you will get a shock at some time (especially if it is made by Dell, but that is usually visual )

Accidentally come into contact with a capacitor and you can enter the world break dancing contest...... but it doesn't normally kill you. Electrical current causes your muscles to retract, involuntarily. I hardly think this chap would have been 'waving his arms about' he may have been vibrating at 50 cycles a second, but not waving. To actually die from a shock, it needs to be a sustained shock i.e. grabbing a piece of exposed cable, your hand will clench and you can't let go or walking into a pool of water that is live (lobbing a hair dryer into the bath will do it too)

This is not just a case of a couple of exposed wires with poor sticky tape insulation, it's a death trap....... however, as others have stated, the buck will just get passed around until it's forgotten about and if we are really lucky, someone may buy a new roll of tape.

Anyway, when it rains in Pattaya, only walk on the dry bits.

My condolences to him and his family.

//edit/spelling

Edited August 4, 2007 by Thaddeus

[AGareth2]

Health and Safety regs in Thailand?

[Tony Clifton]

Health and Safety regs in Thailand?

Yes, there are.

But then again, there are also traffic laws.

No enforcement.

[Rajah]

In the park near the pier you can seee palm trees which are used as electrical posts. I don't wonder that it happens, I wonder why there aren't any more accidents like that.

[mcd]

30,000 Baht Compensation for Lost Life

Pattaya People reporters attended the cremation ceremony of unfortunate 25 year old Mr. Prayong Ngamsa-Ard who was electrocuted at Bali Hai Pier and died not long after at Banglamung Hospital in the early hours of 3rd August. At the ceremony, reporters met up with Mr. Prayong’s family and friends who were extremely devastated and couldn’t accept what had happened.

Miss A, the victim’s wife stated in tears that they have one daughter together who is 1 year and 2 months old. “He was a very good father. He died from something that should have never happened in public. This is the carelessness of authorities involved. They do not repair what needs to be done and there is no warning sign there whatsoever.

Authorities involved only gave our family 30,000 Baht for the life that is lost of the one we love”, she said. This case is taken as a warning to everyone to be more careful while sightseeing at the pier.

http://www.pattayapeople.com/default.asp?F...;IdArticle=6956

[elkangorito]

Yes, it's the current flowing through the body that does the damage, but low voltage is supposed to be safer than higher voltage supplies - which is why America and construction sites use 110v supply, rather than the more normal (for the rest of the world) 220-240v supply.

110 volts in no safer than 220 volts. Anything below 50 volts RMS is considered a safe voltage (for release time purposes only). The current (Amps) is not the sole killer (even though as you say, it does the damage) - as per Ohms Law, the other 2 components (resistance & voltage) come into play.

One reason why sensible countries do not use 110 volts is because supply conductors have to be much larger than if higher voltages are used. Mind you, Thailand still insists on using single insulated 'speaker' wire for extension cables - an accident waiting to happen.

Anyway, if this incident was to have been prevented, Thailand needs to really start to get serious about electrical safety. A combination of complete stupidity & laziness is why Thai electrical safety is a deadly joke.

[tropo]

So, what was the cable for? Who installed it? What voltage?

Working in construction, I get jolted at least once a year by anything up to 400V lines. No real problems, but I do have safety boots on and I'm not standing on a sea-soaked pier.

Surely there is some official inspection of all fittings, both at the time of installation and at regular intervals for maintenance.

Feel sorry for the poor guy - but doubt that there will be compensation from the City (or whoever is responsible for the pier).

What a bright spark you are, thought you were ok to you said that.

I was thinking the same. You're probably living on borrowed time Humphrey.