Alarm raised across the country following deaths of children left in school vans

BANGKOK, 17 May 2013 (NNT) - Following the deaths of two children who were killed by excessive heat exposure after being locked in school vans, the Interior Ministry has instructed relevant agencies in all provinces to take extra precaution in ensuring students’ safety.

The ministry has forwarded orders to provincial offices as well as educational units in a bid to prevent the repeat of the tragic incidents.

In April, a young girl who was left in a van for several hours outside her kindergarten in Samut Prakan, died after spending two weeks in a coma.

Her death was followed that of a three-year-old kindergarten student in Si Sa Ket who was killed from being locked in a truck for seven hours.

The Public Health Ministry has also issued guidelines for first-aid care following the deaths. The ministry confirmed that these toddlers were killed by extreme cases of heat strokes.

Once a person or a child is locked inside a vehicle for over 30 minutes, they will likely suffer extensive organ damage and stop breathing.

The ministry advised that in the event of children being left unsupervised in a car for a long period of time, members of the public are urged to call the 1669 hotline before removing children from the vehicle as soon as possible.

If necessary, a CPR needs to be administered on the unconscious child.


-- NNT 2013-05-17

I don't know what is more shocking.a society where things like this is happened regularly or a society who needs a ministerial guideline to prevent such tragedies?

This is what you get when you hire friends and family members who have no training

no clue and do not give a flying eff about anything or anyone

The ministry advised that in the event of children being left unsupervised in a car for a long period of time, members of the public are urged to call the 1669 hotline before removing children from the vehicle as soon as possible.

WRONG!

Remove child first by breaking any and all windows, when child is safely out call the 1669 hotline (they should have changed that, it is an appalling pun)

Also we must put this in perspective. This is a totally brutal dreadful way for anyone to die let alone a toddler but this happens everywhere. Another poster mentioned somewhere on the other thread that 32+ children die like this every year in the USA. Never expect anything from stupid people and you will never be disappointed. The public need to be aware and they need to act fast. In the climate here, children should never be left in a locked vehicle for any length of time. If I see it, even on the high street, I will take the special hammer out of my car and 'release' the children and then call the police.

One might think that, given the 25/7/365 average mean temperature, in Bangkok, is 30ºC, people might know how to cope with the heat!

The ministry advised that in the event of children being left unsupervised in a car for a long period of time, members of the public are urged to call the 1669 hotline before removing children from the vehicle as soon as possible.

WRONG!

Remove child first by breaking any and all windows, when child is safely out call the 1669 hotline.

CORRECT.

That line set off my alarms bells too.

They need an alarm to realise it gets hot in a parked car.

Strewth

The ministry advised that in the event of children being left unsupervised in a car for a long period of time, members of the public are urged to call the 1669 hotline before removing children from the vehicle as soon as possible.

WRONG!

Remove child first by breaking any and all windows

Agreed, but then lookout for backlash from vehicle owner for damaging his pride & joy.

For DP25....

Those are examples of really bad day care centers, which is not the same as the official schools here in Thailand. But I agree it is a horrible tragedy, compounded by the sheer stupidity of the act. " Gee Khun Sombat we are really sorry your child got roasted in a van. We will be more careful in the future..."

Why not give out more rules.

Oh...I have one:

Count every child going INTO the car and count every child that comes OUT of the car.

If numbers don't match, look INSIDE the car for missing child!

Problem solved!

It's not too hard!

members of the public are urged to call the 1669 hotline before removing children from the vehicle as soon as possible.

...for English press 9...to speak to an operator, press 0...all operators are busy now, please hold...

Off-topic posts and replies have been deleted. This topic is not about the US.

If you wish to compare data with other countries, at least look for similar size populations, climate conditions and vehicle ownership.

Here's a link for those who wish to actually start checking that type of data:

http://www.childsafetyeurope.org/publications/info/factsheets/children-in-cars.pdf

Why not give out more rules.

Oh...I have one:

Count every child going INTO the car and count every child that comes OUT of the car.

If numbers don't match, look INSIDE the car for missing child!

Problem solved!

It's not too hard!

Then ALSO double check all seats and under seats.

The ministry advised that in the event of children being left unsupervised in a car for a long period of time, members of the public are urged to call the 1669 hotline before removing children from the vehicle as soon as possible.

WRONG!

Remove child first by breaking any and all windows, when child is safely out call the 1669 hotline (they should have changed that, it is an appalling pun)

Also we must put this in perspective. This is a totally brutal dreadful way for anyone to die let alone a toddler but this happens everywhere. Another poster mentioned somewhere on the other thread that 32+ children die like this every year in the USA. Never expect anything from stupid people and you will never be disappointed. The public need to be aware and they need to act fast. In the climate here, children should never be left in a locked vehicle for any length of time. If I see it, even on the high street, I will take the special hammer out of my car and 'release' the children and then call the police.

Just One Point: How about checking the doors to see if they are unlocked before Breaking windows and causing more stress for the victim?

Murray. CNX.

I don't know what is more shocking.a society where things like this is happened regularly or a society who needs a ministerial guideline to prevent such tragedies?

There are more shocking things than this happening the world over, and no amount of education or money can totally eliminate it.

Thailand is no different than the rest of the world.

The Public Health Ministry has also issued guidelines for first-aid care following the deaths..............If necessary, a CPR needs to be administered on the unconscious child.

I wonder who received the PHM issued guidelines for first-aid and how many Thais know CPR after they call 11669 and wait for someone to come and open the door.

The ministry advised that in the event of children being left unsupervised in a car for a long period of time, members of the public are urged to call the 1669 hotline before removing children from the vehicle as soon as possible.

WRONG!

Remove child first by breaking any and all windows, when child is safely out call the 1669 hotline (they should have changed that, it is an appalling pun)

Also we must put this in perspective. This is a totally brutal dreadful way for anyone to die let alone a toddler but this happens everywhere. Another poster mentioned somewhere on the other thread that 32+ children die like this every year in the USA. Never expect anything from stupid people and you will never be disappointed. The public need to be aware and they need to act fast. In the climate here, children should never be left in a locked vehicle for any length of time. If I see it, even on the high street, I will take the special hammer out of my car and 'release' the children and then call the police.

Just One Point: How about checking the doors to see if they are unlocked before Breaking windows and causing more stress for the victim?

Murray. CNX.

I believe that many of us foreigners need to better understand that the stupid things we read about in Thailand have a lot to do with the mentality or deficiencies within the Thai persons brain. I estimate that approximately 70% are simply lazy. For the most part Thai people are not stupid but they obviously think differently about things. Ask any Thai a question, even a simple one and I bet you will find that you will never get a direct answer. (And I'm not saying ask them in English. Ask the question in Thai) They always seem to go around the answer by telling you something else, different than what you have asked. When they mess up and do a poor job, they never apologize or admit any wrong doing. This proves that they think differently then in the West. They are not easy to teach especially when they have a job needing to be done. They don't seem to really care so much about work. If you go into a shopping mall or shop don't be surprised to see about half-a-dozen just standing around either talking or doing nothing at all. I do not think this will change for a long long time. I think that the reality is, we foreigners live here in their world and it is extremely difficult to cope with all the seemingly stupid things they do. I lived in China and many Chinese don't have a lot of common sense but at least when they do a job they take it serious. Thai people (the 70%) cannot wake up and recognize that for every problem they try to fix, they create two or three more problems. I could go on and on with story after story but I think you get my point. My only hope is that the Thai's get my point! Even the ones that graduate from universities don't come out ready to be competitive in this global environment. I am retired now, have worked in BKK and have been coming here for 28 years so I think I have seen a lot and can voice my opinion with a certain amount of truth. Please Thai people, we love Thailand but WAKE UP and try to learn something from developed countrymen. You will not lose face, at a minimum you will improve yourself. I say this with all due respect because I have many close Thai friends that I care about very much.

The ministry advised that in the event of children being left unsupervised in a car for a long period of time, members of the public are urged to call the 1669 hotline before removing children from the vehicle as soon as possible.

WRONG!

Remove child first by breaking any and all windows, when child is safely out call the 1669 hotline (they should have changed that, it is an appalling pun)

Also we must put this in perspective. This is a totally brutal dreadful way for anyone to die let alone a toddler but this happens everywhere. Another poster mentioned somewhere on the other thread that 32+ children die like this every year in the USA. Never expect anything from stupid people and you will never be disappointed. The public need to be aware and they need to act fast. In the climate here, children should never be left in a locked vehicle for any length of time. If I see it, even on the high street, I will take the special hammer out of my car and 'release' the children and then call the police.

Just One Point: How about checking the doors to see if they are unlocked before Breaking windows and causing more stress for the victim?

Murray. CNX.

I believe that many of us foreigners need to better understand that the stupid things we read about in Thailand have a lot to do with the mentality or deficiencies within the Thai persons brain. I estimate that approximately 70% are simply lazy. For the most part Thai people are not stupid but they obviously think differently about things. Ask any Thai a question, even a simple one and I bet you will find that you will never get a direct answer. (And I'm not saying ask them in English. Ask the question in Thai) They always seem to go around the answer by telling you something else, different than what you have asked. When they mess up and do a poor job, they never apologize or admit any wrong doing. This proves that they think differently then in the West. They are not easy to teach especially when they have a job needing to be done. They don't seem to really care so much about work. If you go into a shopping mall or shop don't be surprised to see about half-a-dozen just standing around either talking or doing nothing at all. I do not think this will change for a long long time. I think that the reality is, we foreigners live here in their world and it is extremely difficult to cope with all the seemingly stupid things they do. I lived in China and many Chinese don't have a lot of common sense but at least when they do a job they take it serious. Thai people (the 70%) cannot wake up and recognize that for every problem they try to fix, they create two or three more problems. I could go on and on with story after story but I think you get my point. My only hope is that the Thai's get my point! Even the ones that graduate from universities don't come out ready to be competitive in this global environment. I am retired now, have worked in BKK and have been coming here for 28 years so I think I have seen a lot and can voice my opinion with a certain amount of truth. Please Thai people, we love Thailand but WAKE UP and try to learn something from developed countrymen. You will not lose face, at a minimum you will improve yourself. I say this with all due respect because I have many close Thai friends that I care about very much.

Why are you imploring that Thai people listen to your common sense on a forum visited by foreigners?

Why are you imploring that Thai people listen to your common sense on a forum visited by foreigners?

Well i guess there are a lot of Thai members who come to this forum, and people with Thai spouses and people thinking of coming here who may end up with a Thai spouse and people who have children here going through the Thai education system, all of whom may value some input from a business person/professional who has been coming here for 28 years. Apart from that I have no idea.

is popolar now in thailand , when schoolkids not do homework , ..... up in the van !!!!!

Why are you imploring that Thai people listen to your common sense on a forum visited by foreigners?

Well i guess there are a lot of Thai members who come to this forum, and people with Thai spouses and people thinking of coming here who may end up with a Thai spouse and people who have children here going through the Thai education system, all of whom may value some input from a business person/professional who has been coming here for 28 years. Apart from that I have no idea.

Fair enough, good points made

Absolutely appalling. Words fail.

Minimum penalty for leaving a child in a motor vehicle in any danger should be a good whipping, if a child should die as the result of being left in a motor vehicle then it should be a mandatory man-slaughter charge - no if buts or maybe - man-slaughter.

But then I guess, TIT, Bht 200 or so and all will be smoothed over and forgotten.