Boy Electrocuted After Stepping On Chord At Mall

[Bottlerocket]

I think death is least funny when it happens to a child.

The mall is responsible. It's their property on which the incident occurred. There should be no wiring problems. No wiring problems should occur from normal pedestrian traffic. Outlets in public places should be covered to prevent the insertion of metal objects by children and the occasional retards that frequent the the premises. If you're walking through any village in Thailand and a coconut falls on your head--if that coconut palm is standing on private property (and even if you are their guest)--the owner of the land is responsible for your injuries. It's true. So, my question is:

Why palm tree owner and not the mall admin?

And yes I know that money talk and kee kwai walks in this Land of Myriad Acts of Silliness.

Edited August 24, 2005 by Bottlerocket

[Rob W]

I'm afraid I can't say I'm suprised about this. I'm an up to date approved electrician and the things I see installed in properties scares the ###### out of me sometimes.

Does anyone know if they use Residual Current Devices (RCD's) in Thailand? I've not seen any and if they were fitted should have saved this little kiddies life.

A very unfortunate event, thought I have to say I have seen signs of improvement,its a very slow going process.

[Freddie_fly]

On a slight tangent. I wonder if anyone attempted to give the child CPR? I believe the success rate for eletrocution is fairly good. I wonder if anyone in Thailand other than medical personel at hospitals have ever been given instruction in CPR or the Heimlich manuver?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Many countries throughout the world follow the "Good Samaritan" rule, that is as long as you identify yourself as a trained first-aider and they agree to your helping them (if they are able to respond obviously) then you are not held liable if they fail to recover.Thailand does not follow this, and as such, you may be liable to criminal/civil action if you try to help.

Freddie

[gharknes]

Safety standards are important, they stop people/children being killed, electricity is dangerous but I find it hard to understand how this kid managed to get in contact with Live 240volts from a plug or socket, it is virtually impossible, I would suggest that either there was a faulty wire or cable that was exposing the live 240volts and the kid stepped on it or the rail that he had his hand on became live due to comming in contact with 240 mains, either way there is a very disturbing safety issue, people who carry out shoddy work or fail to meet safety standards (if there are any) should be held accountable both finacially and criminally.

[deus ex machina]

MyNameIsFarang a newbie you may well be but take some advice "Wake-UP" 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Obviously, I am a newbie too and therefore am of a suspect status but I have to confess that I found MyNameisFarang's post to be both amusing and witty, no mean feat in this Forum. The child died as a consequence of negligence and ill fortune, a terrible waste but symptomatic of the irresponsibility that pervades Thai society.Still, the flipside is sanuk,sanuk which is why most of us, I suppose, are here.Bear that in mind Mijan when next eschewing humour

Toodle pip

[WhiteShiva]

Safety standards are important, they stop people/children being killed, electricity is dangerous but I find it hard to understand how this kid managed to get in contact with Live 240volts from a plug or socket, it is virtually impossible

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This was my first thought when I read the article as well - plugs don't carry electricity unless they are plugged in, in which case you cannot make contact with the metallic parts of the plug.

Seems more like an amateur electrician had done a shoddy job, and left wires exposed. Would never get the management to admit to that, though

[Greer]

To those who find this funny - how "witty and amusing" would it be if it was your child? I am a parent and I find your sense of humour at a tragic event utterly inappropriate. I disagree with the implication that being a "newbie" means you may not know better, your status as a "newbie" is irrelevant, and is no excuse for illconsidered remarks.

Regarding the use of RCDs in Thailand, yes, they do have them. I have one in my house, and when the local power authority came to inspect the installation that a local "electrician" had performed, they initially knocked it back, as he had not wired all feeds via the main RCD, but had bypassed it with a couple of circuits for Air-con units.

Obviously, and at terrible cost, not everywhere is protected.

The earlier post about electrical plugs being completely safe does make the assumption that they are properly terminated, and that, for example, the correct socket was used - this is often not te case, and I have seen many "extension leads" made up of a normal household wall plate outlet being the socket end on a long lead. This means that the screw connections to the rear of the socket are exposed, because the wall plate is not mounted onto anything, but left dangling on the end of a cable. Undoubtedly, this has been caused by faulty cabling - yes the shopping centre should be made to take rsponsibility.

[Ice Maiden]

Just goes to say what great electritians we have over here. The electric in our house still isn't safe, got a pretty nasty shock from my laptop the other day. When driving through Thailand all you have to do is glance at the electric wires that hang inches above the foot paths and roads to realise there is a problem with electrical saftey. The plonkers that get on their ladders trying to fix them are even worse