Dangerous Situation

[highlander76]

Health and safety is a joke here in Thailand we all know that

[bridge]

This is Thailand Maipenrai!

Bet you said the same thing about the Santika nightlclub too?

[garyh]

This is Thailand Maipenrai!

Bet you said the same thing about the Santika nightlclub too?

No I did not I was talking about the attitude Thai people have, you should think before making such comments.

[sokal]

Diesel has a high burning point, you are over reacting big time !

Dont try and turn Thailand into some over-regulated nanny state like the west.

[Birdman]

Sad tragedies do happen. Do avoid that the authorities have to implement strict regulations everywhere even into the tiniest matters.

However the more regulated the more Westernized. The less regulated the less...in any matter thinkable. To leave regulated life, people go to India, Thailand, Jamaica etc and live with the "risks". Didn't you know that?

[Nio]

This is Thailand Maipenrai!

Bet you said the same thing about the Santika nightlclub too?

If you do not understand 3rd world, look it up.

One foreigner belly aching won't do anything to change Thailand

Can you honestly reference ANY new Thai Laws that were passed after the Santika Fire?

Do you honestly believe that there are not 100's more unsafe clubs in Bangkok?

Do you know why you can ride down the road and see someone driving 180 kph?

3rd World countries have a LACK OF ENFORCEMENT on every frontier

You either learn to live with it or move back to a first world country.

That same Ferry the OP is complaining about probably had 100 more dangerous safety violations than the one he saw.

PS Here is a news flash! You don't need petro in sealed containers to start a fire.

That same smoker could toss his butt into a trash can full of paper and start a fire just the same.

It is very windy on the Ferry, the wind could blow some of his cigarette embers and start a fire

The boat engine could catch on fire with broken fuel line

It is a risk you take when you live in the third world and you either learn to live with it or move

You can see 100 unsafe things every single day if you open your eyes and look around

[PhilHarries]

Another Chicken Little crying the sky is falling.

I wish I had a $1 everytime I hear newbies piping off like this.

Accident waiting to happen, need to report this blah blah blah

Maybe it hasn't set in yet newbie.

3rd suits us very well.

I wish I had one Baht for every low life scumbag sounding off like this. 3rd (world) suits us very well.

Well maybe you are that dismissive of human life, maybe it hasn't set in yet scumbag but Thai people are human beings too.

Maybe it hasn't set in yet but you do NOT transport flammable liquids without certain controls. Maybe you think this is rubbish, and maybe you would enjoy seeing your family incinerated.

[kokesaat]

" you do NOT transport flammable liquids without certain controls"

In Isan, it's common for people to ride their motorcycle with a soda bottle full of gas in their basket. I've seen motorcycle samlars with an old cooking oil container (4 liters) being used as their gas tank.

I don't think anyone is advocating torching their family (seeing your family incinerated). You want to live in Thailand, you'd better get used to loose controls.....5 on a motorcycle, 25 in the bed of a small pickup, songtaews with 10 students riding on top of the passenger department, trucks/buses/trains that are long past their lifespan. We'd all love to see it improve overnight.....reality is, it'll improve over the next few decades.

[gotlost]

I've seen them smoke at PTT stations while filling up the petrol tank.

[JayF]

" you do NOT transport flammable liquids without certain controls"

In Isan, it's common for people to ride their motorcycle with a soda bottle full of gas in their basket. I've seen motorcycle samlars with an old cooking oil container (4 liters) being used as their gas tank.

I don't think anyone is advocating torching their family (seeing your family incinerated). You want to live in Thailand, you'd better get used to loose controls.....5 on a motorcycle, 25 in the bed of a small pickup, songtaews with 10 students riding on top of the passenger department, trucks/buses/trains that are long past their lifespan. We'd all love to see it improve overnight.....reality is, it'll improve over the next few decades.

I thought it was pretty common around the world for people to carry some spare petrol in a can in their car. There's enough petrol in a small bottle to torch any car, but you don't see fireballs going down the road all over the place.

This guy insists on claiming people want to torch families (his previous flame of my post was removed), but I wonder how many times he's driven with his family in the car, or put them in any other sort of situation with inherent risks.

Nobody is claiming anyone should go out of their way to create dangerous situations, but like I said before, people aren't dying all over Thailand because there are slightly more risks here than in the West. If he's so scared of Thailand and how dangerous it is(n't), he should go live/holiday in Spain.

He could always try lobbying the government or going out on the street to educate people, but people don't want to change, and that is their right. Who are we to criticize or try to change a country in which we are guests?

[JimsKnight]

Guys, it's laissez-faire thailand, why get so worked up about it?

Some of the poor posters here must be tearing their hair out everytime a tragedy or disaster strikes the world elsewhere.

[Richb2004v2]

I had a similar experience diving on Koh Samet. New to diving we started on Koh Chang where everything was organized and safe. It was mainly run by ferang. We then went to dive on Koh Samet. There were no ferang involved there. Although I could be wrong and over reacting as I am not an experienced diver We were very surprised to see the gas cylinders rolling around and piled randomly on the boat and the Thai staff smoking whilst working with the bottles. It was the same company as on Chang so I emailed them when I got home. I didn't get a response. That may be because I was wrong to be concerned but it just struck me as unsafe and not good practice.

[Richard W]

Can you honestly reference ANY new Thai Laws that were passed after the Santika Fire?

Is there any evidence that new laws are required? If any are needed, I think they would relate to enforcement rather than to safety requirements.

[bridge]

This is Thailand Maipenrai!

Bet you said the same thing about the Santika nightlclub too?

No I did not I was talking about the attitude Thai people have, you should think before making such comments.

No, I did think, you didn't, may pen rai.

[robblok]

I had a similar experience diving on Koh Samet. New to diving we started on Koh Chang where everything was organized and safe. It was mainly run by ferang. We then went to dive on Koh Samet. There were no ferang involved there. Although I could be wrong and over reacting as I am not an experienced diver We were very surprised to see the gas cylinders rolling around and piled randomly on the boat and the Thai staff smoking whilst working with the bottles. It was the same company as on Chang so I emailed them when I got home. I didn't get a response. That may be because I was wrong to be concerned but it just struck me as unsafe and not good practice.

I wonder with what kind of gas you dive.. most ppl dive with normal air and.. that is not flammable. I guess you got no reply because you did not know what you were talking about.

[Thongkorn]

A few years ago in Bangkok There was a Propane tanker, Caught in the Evening Traffic. It had a leak from its discharge valves,No problem because it was only minute leak, A tok tok stopped behind the Tanker, He switched his tok tok off, To wait for the traffic to move again, It took twenty minutes for the traffic to clear, the tok tok driver started his engine, un beknowing to him there was gas all around him . It blowe up killing 300 people and injuring hundreds. Maybe if some one had been safety conscious there would not have been an incident, So Safety IS EVERY body's Concern ,

[dumball]

'sokal' date='2009-12-06 12:31:11' post='3186095']

Diesel has a high burning point, you are over reacting big time !

Dont try and turn Thailand into some over-regulated nanny state like the west.

You cannot turn anything into anything , you are only a g(j)uest and never forget it , just spend your money and get on with life .

[Richb2004v2]

I had a similar experience diving on Koh Samet. New to diving we started on Koh Chang where everything was organized and safe. It was mainly run by ferang. We then went to dive on Koh Samet. There were no ferang involved there. Although I could be wrong and over reacting as I am not an experienced diver We were very surprised to see the gas cylinders rolling around and piled randomly on the boat and the Thai staff smoking whilst working with the bottles. It was the same company as on Chang so I emailed them when I got home. I didn't get a response. That may be because I was wrong to be concerned but it just struck me as unsafe and not good practice.

I wonder with what kind of gas you dive.. most ppl dive with normal air and.. that is not flammable. I guess you got no reply because you did not know what you were talking about.

Yeah, I just thought about that and realised breathable air is unlikely to explode. If only I'd actually though about it at the time.

[MaiDong]

I think there's a line here - what was happening was dangerous to an extent, not too many people want to create a nanny-state but common sense or organisation could prevent the carriage of tanks for fuel on ferries, we don't need regulation to have common sense do we?

I used to spend a lot of time on Koh Chang and have traveled from KC to Trat on the ferry more times than I've had hot dinners, the only time I was ever worried was during low season, on a small 1 lane ferry, when winds were high and a motorbike nearly slid off the ferry into the water...

There have been accidents with fuel(gas truck explosion/accident some years ago) and nobody wants to have a repeat of that. Yes, this may be considered by some as a 3rd would country but it has a lot of much better attributes than our own first would countries.

TiT

[sokal]

Another Chicken Little crying the sky is falling.

I wish I had a $1 everytime I hear newbies piping off like this.

Accident waiting to happen, need to report this blah blah blah

Maybe it hasn't set in yet newbie.

3rd suits us very well.

I wish I had one Baht for every low life scumbag sounding off like this. 3rd (world) suits us very well.

Well maybe you are that dismissive of human life, maybe it hasn't set in yet scumbag but Thai people are human beings too.

Maybe it hasn't set in yet but you do NOT transport flammable liquids without certain controls. Maybe you think this is rubbish, and maybe you would enjoy seeing your family incinerated.

Accidents still happen no matter how hard you try to prevent them, all the western nanny sates are proof.

The personal responsibility you have with less regulation is what I like most about Thailand

[sokal]

" you do NOT transport flammable liquids without certain controls"

In Isan, it's common for people to ride their motorcycle with a soda bottle full of gas in their basket. I've seen motorcycle samlars with an old cooking oil container (4 liters) being used as their gas tank.

I don't think anyone is advocating torching their family (seeing your family incinerated). You want to live in Thailand, you'd better get used to loose controls.....5 on a motorcycle, 25 in the bed of a small pickup, songtaews with 10 students riding on top of the passenger department, trucks/buses/trains that are long past their lifespan. We'd all love to see it improve overnight.....reality is, it'll improve over the next few decades.

If that is what you call improvement then I will be moving out of Thialand in 10 years

[garyh]

A few years ago in Bangkok There was a Propane tanker, Caught in the Evening Traffic. It had a leak from its discharge valves,No problem because it was only minute leak, A tok tok stopped behind the Tanker, He switched his tok tok off, To wait for the traffic to move again, It took twenty minutes for the traffic to clear, the tok tok driver started his engine, un beknowing to him there was gas all around him . It blowe up killing 300 people and injuring hundreds. Maybe if some one had been safety conscious there would not have been an incident, So Safety IS EVERY body's Concern ,

You mean this one

1990

Bangkok, Thailand

A tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) crashed in Bangkok resulting in an LPG explosion

63 people killed, 90 injured

[Stumbo]

Try this experiment, put some petrol in a small dish, throw a lighted cigarette in it, it does not go boom, puts out the smoke.

Good advice "garyh" hopefully my children don't read your post

You let your kids read Thaivisa?

That's far more worrying than letting them experiment with ciggies and petrol.

Yeah, it is sad enough that we all read Thai Visa, imagine inflicting it on your kids? Even worse that they were actually interested.

[scorecard]

Try this experiment, put some petrol in a small dish, throw a lighted cigarette in it, it does not go boom, puts out the smoke.

Good advice "garyh" hopefully my children don't read your post

What you failed to add is that gasoline and many other flammable products are ignited by fire or electrical activity coming into contact with the fumes of the product.

Which is why you will always see, at gasoline stations, a gas release pipe coming up from the underground tanks to a height way above ground level and above the roofing level of the awning or associated buildings. Then at the top of the pipe their is an elbow to stop rain or other condensation going down the pipe.

But the primary purpose of the gas release pipe is to ensure all the fumes from the product in the gasoline tanks are eventually released outside of the tank but at a higher level hopefully away from from fire of electrical sparks of any kind. When ignited through the fumes gasoline instantly turns into a high powered bomb and spreads widely.

In fact your original post suggesting that people throw a lighted cigarette into a bowl of gasoline is irresponsible.

[TaoNow]

A number of posts on this thread like to refer to Thailand as a "3rd world country" to explain deficiencies here such as what OP observed.

In fact, if you take a quick trip to Wikipedia you'll see that "3rd world" is a term from the Cold War era and refers to capitalist, communist and non-aligned states.

TV members who use the term seem to want to classify Thailand as underdeveloped (at least relative to their home country).

They don't seem to believe that they can help improve things by talking with Thais in a respectful way to persuadce them to change a dangerous or unclean practice. It may not work in every case, but talking with Thais politely (preferably in Thai) beats posting a rant on the Forum.

[needforspeed]

A number of posts on this thread like to refer to Thailand as a "3rd world country" to explain deficiencies here such as what OP observed.

In fact, if you take a quick trip to Wikipedia you'll see that "3rd world" is a term from the Cold War era and refers to capitalist, communist and non-aligned states.

TV members who use the term seem to want to classify Thailand as underdeveloped (at least relative to their home country).

They don't seem to believe that they can help improve things by talking with Thais in a respectful way to persuadce them to change a dangerous or unclean practice. It may not work in every case, but talking with Thais politely (preferably in Thai) beats posting a rant on the Forum.

You can learn them something, but you cant change them.

[Pakboong]

Unfortunately, if all these kinds of things were to be made safe, we may not be as pleased with the cost of living that would result. Among my reasons for leaving the west were having to pay for everyone's safety when I could simply choose to avoid those things I consider unsafe.