Photo via Facebook/ รักสยาม นิวส์

 

A South Korean tourist suffered a severe facial injury in Pattaya on May 18 after accidentally walking into a protruding galvanised steel plate on a footpath. The plate, illegally placed by a nearby construction site, was intended to cover a pile of bricks from rain.

 

Emergency responders from the Sawang Borriboon Thammasathan Foundation arrived at Pattaya Sai Sam Road near Soi Chaloem Prakiat 9 around 10:30 p.m., finding the man, aged between 25 and 30, with a significant facial wound. Blood was evident on the path where the incident occurred. The rescuers administered first aid and transported him to Mueang Pattaya Hospital for further treatment.

 

Witness Thanaphat, a 27-year-old food vendor, recounted to rescuers and Channel 7 journalists that the man was preoccupied with his mobile phone and failed to notice the steel plate, leading to a deep facial cut upon contact. The construction site's equipment encroachment onto the footpath sparked safety concerns as it violated public space regulations.

 

Thanaphat described being shocked by the severity of the injury and the blood loss. She and bystanders quickly rinsed the wound and applied gauze to manage the bleeding. A video from the scene shows the injured man holding gauze over his wound.

 

In response to the incident, thoughtful locals tied a brightly coloured plastic bag to the steel plate as a cautionary measure to protect other pedestrians. The incident highlights the need for stricter regulations and enforcement to keep public pathways safe and free from obstructions.

 

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Thaiger 2025-05-19

 

 

Now that's the family friendly place I remember.

 

4 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

The incident highlights the need for stricter regulations and enforcement to keep public pathways safe and free from obstructions.

 

No it doesn't. It shows the neglect and corruption that encompasses many aspects of thai life.

I suppose this has nothing to do with idiots staring at their phones and not watching where they walk. 

1 minute ago, EVENKEEL said:

I suppose this has nothing to do with idiots staring at their phones and not watching where they walk. 

 

From the OP:

• Witness Thanaphat, a 27-year-old food vendor, recounted to rescuers and Channel 7 journalists that the man was preoccupied with his mobile phone and failed to notice the steel plate, leading to a deep facial cut upon contact.

9 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

I suppose this has nothing to do with idiots staring at their phones and not watching where they walk. 

Yes, that is a fair point.... but some blame must go to whoever left this danger there. I never walk  along looking at my phone, nor chew gun at the same time, and have had head bumping incidents, particularly if I have a baseball cap on! Probably overly focused on watching the ground for deep holes and dangers.

What was so dodgy about the bricks that they needed protection from the rain? 

Until some type of larger financial 

restitution is forced to be paid, these type of negligent incidents will continue.  There are hazardous wires, pieces of metal, loose broken tiles, large pot holes,  motorbikes on sidewalks just about everywhere here and no one seems to care.

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

In response to the incident, thoughtful locals tied a brightly coloured plastic bag to the steel plate as a cautionary measure to protect other pedestrians

Why not remove the steel plate?

2 hours ago, Gsxrnz said:

What was so dodgy about the bricks that they needed protection from the rain? 

Might they have been delivered by a certain Sino-Thai company?

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The construction site's equipment encroachment onto the footpath sparked safety concerns as it violated public space regulations.

So where are the constructions companies fines or charges for failing to comply with safety standards and violating regulations? They should be made to pay for this mans bills and suffering plus the loss of his holiday. Fine example to show upon returning to their country. I hope this bites TAT in the butt and reduces tourism even more. It is a fine example of how safe Thailand is to travellers. 

No, the construction companies  are running the show in Pattaya/Jomtiem and Naklua: All these white elephant parking garages ( and lots like just north of Jomtiem police building) All these bogus city hall contractor/kickbacked beach " improvements" As what's left of the natural environment is turned to concrete.                         Negative dept.

For example this concrete sh*tshow around Lam pho seafood market. 

TAT will not be happy with this.  The Chinese have stopped coming because T/Land has a dangerous reputation.  Wait till the Korean gets home and gives his version to the local press.

17 hours ago, blaze master said:

Now that's the family friendly place I remember.

 

 

No it doesn't. It shows the neglect and corruption that encompasses many aspects of thai life.

What has corruption got to do with this story

The boy awoke abruptly from his smartphone meditation.....

“”In response to the incident, thoughtful locals tied a brightly coloured plastic bag to the steel plate as a cautionary measure to protect other pedestrians. “

 

There you go, problem solved. Just like when a bamboo with a rag tied at the top solves open manhole covers.

 

No need for the construction company or authorities to do anything….which is precise what they mostly do.

16 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

I suppose this has nothing to do with idiots staring at their phones and not watching where they walk. 

Of course it does. The guy isn’t totally blameless. But that doesn’t remove the responsibility of the construction company to follow safety regulations.

 

The tourist paid the price for his idiotic behavior by taking a gash to the head. What penalty will the construction company face.? No comment from them in the article and no indication that they were requested for comment, in fact they were not even named! Probably the writer was concerned about defamation laws.

Always watch where you're going, especially with all the construction going on. It's crazy out there!

And the people in charge are wondering why tourists are avoiding Pattaya more and more! Its a minefield of holes, fighting, knife attacks and intoxication! How can anything go wrong!! 😆😆

Sidewalk maintenance is non-existent from what I have seen. This does not surprise me in the least.

At the very least he should have been watching out to avoid Lady Boys and he would have seen it.

21 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

I suppose this has nothing to do with idiots staring at their phones and not watching where they walk. 

Agree.... it's not only the fault of the construction company...my own mate, 70 to Aussie, has this same strange fixation, on his phone, he's had a few narrow misses.

My biggest fear here is losing an eye from a protruding piece of metal from a  Street cart, shop awning, a power pole or some other structure. They are unfortunately extremely common and extremely dangerous. 

17 hours ago, PB172111 said:

What has corruption got to do with this story

a whole lot !

 but to make it easier to digest ..      lack of accountability and responsibility, safety regulations / adherence and enforcement

  or to simply put it ..  total lack of common sense ..    makes the "Wild West" look like a preschool set up

On 5/20/2025 at 5:35 AM, jacko45k said:

chew gun

Chewing guns is bad ass.

A few years ago, I slipped on an untreated bus stop construction project in Bangkok that should have been closed to pedestrians.  There ought to be better oversight of construction safety practices.  

On 5/20/2025 at 12:38 PM, Photoguy21 said:

Sidewalk maintenance is non-existent from what I have seen. This does not surprise me in the least.

Thailand's foot paths are the worse I have ever used . Uneven , missing tiles or slabs , holes ( I once saw a farang break his ankle in Pattaya 2nd road , because of a hole in the foot path ) , electric poles in the middle of the paths . High kerb drops . Street vendors trading on the paths which reduces the width of the path etc etc . 

I have seen deep construction holes that are left overnight without protective guardrails . Health & safety in Thailand hardly exists .

On 5/19/2025 at 12:22 PM, blaze master said:

Now that's the family friendly place I remember.

 

 

No it doesn't. It shows the neglect and corruption that encompasses many aspects of thai life.

The Thais do not understand the word "Safety"! They cannot understand how anyone can fall into holes in the road, get run over on zebra lines and so on".  😆Do we ever read about Thais getting hurt this way? Rarely! They believe we can all see and thereby NOT fall into all these traps!! Hmmmm....some logic there I guess....😆