my wife employs a girl from her village since a week and I have been told her story. I cannot keep silent because as farang, in touch with better working condition standard, we have a responsability to improve the situation.

To the story.

Her father was a welder and as you can see in Thailand, welders are rarely using protective masks. Her father became blind and could not work. So loosing his job, he find himself a useless load for his family. He stop to eat during several days, and a morning his family find him dead: he suicided himself by blocking his nose and stopping breathing.

So next time you have a welder doing some work at home, please offer him a protective mask and oblige him to wear it ...

My brother in law works on construction sites building metal roofs. Same sort of the thing with no protective mask. I was watching him work one day and saw no mask so gave him my UV protective sunglasses. I was the best thing since sliced bread for ages after that.

A couple of years ago after watching family members and also workers on our farm using the brushcutter without protection for their eyes, I went to the local hardware and brought about 10 pairs of protective glasses worth about 60 baht each. After that every time I saw someone without glasses I quickly insisted that they wear them. Hopefully the message got through to them. But I doubt it!!

People that read the news story on the large number of workplace deaths and injuries a couple days ago may now have some understanding as to why those numbers are so high. One would think that with the labour shortages, ensuring that workers remain in the work force would be a priority both to the employer and to the government.