Picture courtesy of Daily News

 

A 10-year-old girl in Buriram province has died after being electrocuted by a faulty hair dryer reportedly purchased online from China. The tragedy occurred on October 11 at her home in Nong Teng subdistrict, Krasang district, where she was later found unresponsive by her grandmother. Local residents and relatives gathered the following day to mourn the young student, a Primary 4 pupil at a local school, as her family struggled to come to terms with the sudden loss.

 

According to the grandmother, she had been sitting outside the house when her grandson ran to say that the girl was playing with an electrical socket. Not suspecting danger, she went to check and discovered the child lying on her back, mouth open, with her right hand tightly gripping a plugged-in hair dryer. She immediately pulled the plug from the socket but found that the girl was no longer breathing. Emergency responders were called but were unable to revive her.

 

The child’s mother told reporters that the hair dryer had been purchased online, from social media, in January and was a low-cost product imported from China, costing 89 Baht. It had been kept unused in a storage cabinet and she was unsure how her daughter had found it. The family suspects the girl may have wanted to dry her hair after bathing and unknowingly used the appliance, which is thought to have caused the fatal electric shock.

 

Preliminary investigations by officials revealed burn marks on the girl’s right hand consistent with electrocution. The hair dryer bore only a sticker with Chinese characters, suggesting it may have been a substandard or unregulated product. Authorities are expected to continue examining the device to determine its exact safety faults and potential breaches of consumer protection standards.

 

The case has raised renewed concerns over the safety of inexpensive electronic products sold online without proper certification or quality checks. Consumer advocates have long warned against the use of unverified electrical devices, especially those lacking recognised safety marks.

 

 

Key Takeaways

 

• A 10-year-old girl in Buriram died after being electrocuted by a hair dryer purchased online.

• The product, believed to be a cheap Chinese import, may not have met safety standards.

• Authorities are investigating the device and urging caution over unsafe electrical goods.

 

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  Adapted by Asean Now from Dailynews 2025-10-13

 

 

 

 

Bizzare conclusion to state the hair dryer was at fault when the extension box illustrated is opened up and live terminals exposed.

 

Looks to be all plastic casing. Can one be shocked through that?

Sometimes even the goods of western brands bought in a store in Thailand at a hefty price, have flaws and start crackling, flickering or showing signs of short circuit. 

"According to the grandmother, she had been sitting outside the house when her grandson ran to say that the girl was playing with an electrical socket."

 

So was it the electrical socket or re hairdryer?

Very few houses in Thailand have earth wiring.I had a home that every time I turned something electric on I would get a "TINGLE" from the power point throuh the appliance. Had it fixed by two electricians that worked full time for one of the largest and most expensive hotels in Pattaya. They put into the ground a 6 foot copper rod to earth the house along with all new breaker circuits.Great job. No more "TINGLES".

On 10/13/2025 at 5:41 AM, Georgealbert said:

The child’s mother told reporters that the hair dryer had been purchased online, from social media, in January and was a low-cost product imported from China, costing 89 Baht.

Nuff said...

Sad to see a young death, unfortunately Thailand's electrical grid is based on 220 voltage still 60  cycles in alternate current, but unlike in western countries that predominately use 110 for small appliances. one hot line and one neutral, point being a 110 shock will repel you because the current alternates, but with 220 you have to 2 hot lines  can actually hold you and so essentially the current is much dangerous and deadly as we see here. 

So sad that she had her whole life ahead of her.

Blame it on the 89 baht hair dryer!

 

When the cause is probably something totally different!

 

Lack of basic education here in LOS, first GROUND and circuit breakers / fuse is something that is missing in most lower cost homes, but do save lives, cheaply!

 

Secondly, knowledge that water and electricity do not mix!  She was using it after bathing, suggesting the water could have played a part in this tragic story!

 

Now, if news outlets REPORT on the above two facts, we could actually see some change in Thailand, with a reduction of unnecessary deaths, but, instead, we know what they will focus on, STOP cheap Chinese goods!!! 

 

RIP young girl.

I've been in Thailand too long not to suspect that the electrical installation in this house is substandard. It's unlikely anyone would get an electric shock from a plastic hairdryer, manufactured anywhere!

3 hours ago, Paul Henry said:

Very few houses in Thailand have earth wiring.I had a home that every time I turned something electric on I would get a "TINGLE" from the power point throuh the appliance. Had it fixed by two electricians that worked full time for one of the largest and most expensive hotels in Pattaya. They put into the ground a 6 foot copper rod to earth the house along with all new breaker circuits.Great job. No more "TINGLES".

Did they rewire the 2 wire sockets and replace them with a 3 wire system to include an earth wire, no point in doing what you said unless they did.

2 hours ago, folkstone said:

Sad to see a young death, unfortunately Thailand's electrical grid is based on 220 voltage still 60  cycles in alternate current, but unlike in western countries that predominately use 110 for small appliances. one hot line and one neutral, point being a 110 shock will repel you because the current alternates, but with 220 you have to 2 hot lines  can actually hold you and so essentially the current is much dangerous and deadly as we see here. 

Nonsense

2 hours ago, folkstone said:

Sad to see a young death, unfortunately Thailand's electrical grid is based on 220 voltage still 60  cycles in alternate current, but unlike in western countries that predominately use 110 for small appliances. one hot line and one neutral, point being a 110 shock will repel you because the current alternates, but with 220 you have to 2 hot lines  can actually hold you and so essentially the current is much dangerous and deadly as we see here. 

Thailand 220 Volt 50 Cycles  One Live ( Hot) and one Neutral. .

4 hours ago, Paul Henry said:

Very few houses in Thailand have earth wiring.I had a home that every time I turned something electric on I would get a "TINGLE" from the power point throuh the appliance. Had it fixed by two electricians that worked full time for one of the largest and most expensive hotels in Pattaya. They put into the ground a 6 foot copper rod to earth the house along with all new breaker circuits.Great job. No more "TINGLES".

I had a similar issue. the electrician reversed polarity at the main breaker.

 

For this event, the dryer looks fine but the power strip is lethally wrong. Sad about the little girl, but it was the familys fault. 

So so sad. Only 10 years old. My condolences to the family.

On 10/13/2025 at 6:19 AM, 0ffshore360 said:

Bizzare conclusion to state the hair dryer was at fault when the extension box illustrated is opened up and live terminals exposed.

 

Yes, and having just come from the shower she was probably wet as well. 

Sympathy to the family, but sadly electrical systems in basic houses are not treated with respect. 

From the distorted information supplied in this report it looks highly unlikely it was the hair dryer at fault.

The fact that the boy was concerned that she was playing with the electric socket shows that there must have been more to this than this second rate report shows.

RIP Child.  

Thai electricity no need earth. 

So sad.

R.I.P. little girl.

3 minutes ago, Packer said:

Thai electricity no need earth. 

All electricity needs an earth...that's the return path

the problem occurs when a human being or other living being becomes an easier/alternative path back to earth  instead of the neutral/earth wire.

I see an open plugbox, why?

She was playing with it?

Plastic is an insulator. Nothing wrong with blower. All plastic.

Therefor you have plug with only 2 wires.

You only have ground with metal casing devices, but ok if you dont have the socket with it, it is useless.

Metal lamps, refrigerator, washing machine, all with touchable metal casings should have 3 wires 

with one wire being ground used in ground sockets !

 

The only positive protecting thing would be RCBO's  or RCD! But many houses in Thailand dont have.

Ha, even many houses here in my country dont have.  

Just one is enough in mainpower. Always protection, as long the device works of course, but you can test.

It measures current between Live and Neutral and is there a difference of 30 mA, then it shuts down.

Somewhere, there is a drain then of 30 mA (or higher) , you have to find out where then.

30 mA because your heart cant stand more, but still depending on your personal body health. 

 

A ground was done in earlier times and still done, but if your main ground is too high in resistance, it is a fake security.

You do need a ground ( the wire going to real ground) to be placed super well otherwise it is fake.

Maybe sometimes your rod has to go even 30 meters deep for safe ground ! You MUST measure it !

You have a special devices for it and the value should be from 5 - 10 ohm.

So also time of placing and  place matters, you do in summer? Soil dry. You do in rain time soil wet.

And it is essential to resistance, the wetter the soil is, the better.

Of course you want it to work all time, so measuring, checking in summer.

But you cant do without RCBO or RCA. 

 At least if you want to stay alive. They are invented (80 ties?) and should be in every electrical system.

No clue why a PEA doesnt do a thing about it in Thailand, especially as Thai dont know about electricity.

Well, anybody not being told what is electricity and the dangers.

In a jiffy time , you are dead. Treat electricity well and never under estimate ! 

14 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Nuff said...

As previous posters mention, the hair dryer shows no sign of exposed metal and the only way the girl could have been electrocuted by the hair dryer is if her hands were so wet that water ingressed onto one of the control switches while she was holding it. More likely the cause of the electrocution was due to the exposed wiring on the extension cable.

 

The additional tragedy is that anyone with an even a limited knowledge of first aid should have been able to resuscitate the child .     

On 10/12/2025 at 11:41 PM, Georgealbert said:

A 10-year-old girl in Buriram province has died after being electrocuted by a faulty hair dryer reportedly purchased online from China.

 

China again......

5 hours ago, HK MacPhooey said:

The additional tragedy is that anyone with an even a limited knowledge of first aid should have been able to resuscitate the child . 

Well said...

On 10/14/2025 at 10:37 AM, folkstone said:

Sad to see a young death, unfortunately Thailand's electrical grid is based on 220 voltage still 60  cycles in alternate current, but unlike in western countries that predominately use 110 for small appliances. one hot line and one neutral, point being a 110 shock will repel you because the current alternates, but with 220 you have to 2 hot lines  can actually hold you and so essentially the current is much dangerous and deadly as we see here. 

Almost everything presented there is wrong. Well done!

• Electrical service in Thailand is 220V 50Hz (not 60Hz)
• Worldwide, 220-240V 50Hz service predominates, including in "western countries" (all of Europe, plus Australia, NZ, etc); the USA, a couple dozen other countries in the Americas, and Japan are the outliers
• No standard electrical sockets have "2 hot lines"; they have one hot and one neutral
• The "current alternates" in all systems, worldwide, 100-240V, 50 or 60Hz

The part about 220 sockets being more dangerous is more or less correct.