Injured Man Dies After Bangkok Cop Tells Ambulance To Move

[itchybum]

<deleted> since when did the police have authority over ambos in a life and death situation? I have attended numerous serious incidents and accidents and we definitely can not give orders to ambo's. An ambulance attending a life threatening situation can park anywhere it bloody well likes as human life takes priority over everything. Who cares if traffic is held up if it saves a life. What the BIB should have been was diverting traffic down another route ( if possible) even if it is 1km back down the road.

I would hate to be in this coppers shoes if it was in Australia as he would be in a pile of poop and facing internal disciplinary action and lets not forget a coronial inquiry where he could be found to have contributed to the death and the civil action that may come after. If it was an Aussie ambo the copper would have been told to pull his head in and to F off.

It is not Australia, so no need to compare really.

[Sayonarax]

While I agree, in general, with most of the negative comments here in regards to BiB and Thai people, there are exceptions.

1) About 3 years ago I had a woman come flying out of a little Tesco parking lot, trying to beat oncoming traffic. She hit the front of my bike and sent me flying. Broke my right shoulder. BUT...she immediately hit the breaks, leaving her car blocking traffic, and was on her mobile even before she was out of her car and running to see if I was ok. Cop Shop was only 100 meters away, so they were there quickly. She told the cops to help me into her car, and then she personally drove me to the hospital. The one where she works as a nurse. She even admitted to the cops in their report that it was her fault, and agreed to pay for all damages.

2) About a year ago my wife and I were in the car. We saw an idiot run a red light, slam into a motorbike, and then just keep going. The force of the impact knocked the drive over to the side of the road. No helmet, naturally. I'm a 20 year vet of U.S. Marines, most of that in Recon, and later I became a certified EMT. To my wife's horror and fear, I pulled over, jumped out and went to try and help, as everyone else was merely slowing down to get a look, then moving on. I administered CPR, then concentrated on stopping the blood flow from a gaping wound in his side, and bandaged his head with my own shirt. All of this before the first BiB even made an appearance. When they ordered me away from the man my wife, to her credit, yelled at them to leave me alone, and that I was a doctor in my country. A lie, but it worked. Emergency vehicle finally arrives, rushes him to the hospital. Next day me and wife to go visit. His family treated me like a god, saying that the doctors told her that without the treatment he received at the scene of the accident, he would have died. A few days later damn near his entire family showed up at our house with gifts, asking if they could do the water merit ceremony of pouring water over my hands to bless me.

So, as I said, in general I agree with many of the negative comments, but I've also had 2 very good experiences that turned out on he positive side.

Great Job Sir.

[Preman]

This does not surprise me at all. Thai's accept this as normal because they do not know or understand anything else.

Most have not been out the country and think that Thailand has it all together.

They do not understand that this incident as well as thousand upon thousands of others that occur around Thailand on a daily basis, would be so illegal in other countries - and put the people committing them behind bars.

I took my Thai wife to Australia and the USA a few years ago, - and it absolutely shocked her how orderly things are.

People actually stop at traffic lights, - they stop to let you walk across the road, the cars will give way with courtesy, the cars actually stick to their own lanes, they do overtake around blind corners, the police cannot be bribed etc etc.

When she came back here to tell her friends, - none of them believed her, - and said that Thailand is the best place on earth. Brainwashed acceptance of corrupt power and disregard for law & order and human life.

So, for all of us stupid Farangs who still get shocked by such incidents, - there is nothing that we can say or do.

I do not see anything changing in the future. Unless Thailand can come to terms with the fact - that it so different from other nations - it will eventually see it's Tourism and Farang population disappear. Thailand is in the dark ages and will self destruct unless radical change takes place soon. But, I do not see how even the most well intentioned, powerful politician can implement such change.

How can an ambulance driver deal with a crazed gun slinging police idiot? Cannot. The general populous driving cars will not give way to an ambulance driver. Nothing will happen to that policeman. We all know that. Photo or no photo. Nothing!

[hellodolly]

Good thing there's video evidence so that this can't be denied. To protect, and serve (their own interests). This is ultimately why I left Thailand. Beautiful country but you can't raise a family in a place where you can't expect the police to put the safety of others first, especially when the proper course of action is so obvious. RIP to the injured and now deceased man.

I can appreciate your line of reasoning.

I on the other hand appreciate that here in Thailand a person learns to take more responsibility for their well being and try to instill it in their family. Rather than a government say we will take care of you don't bother to look both ways we have law's.

This is not a knock against the Nannie countries just a choice I prefer.

In the Nannie countries you learn a certain amount of self reliance just as in Thailand you learn a certain amount of reliance. It is a black and white situation with a lot of gray area.

I have a friend who is moving back home because he wants his children to have a better education.

[egro]

<deleted> since when did the police have authority over ambos in a life and death situation? I have attended numerous serious incidents and accidents and we definitely can not give orders to ambo's. An ambulance attending a life threatening situation can park anywhere it bloody well likes as human life takes priority over everything. Who cares if traffic is held up if it saves a life. What the BIB should have been was diverting traffic down another route ( if possible) even if it is 1km back down the road.

I would hate to be in this coppers shoes if it was in Australia as he would be in a pile of poop and facing internal disciplinary action and lets not forget a coronial inquiry where he could be found to have contributed to the death and the civil action that may come after. If it was an Aussie ambo the copper would have been told to pull his head in and to F off.

It is not Australia.

It's really not Australia. Police are number one.

The cop commands you to move, you move. Or face the repercussions from the unstable issuer of the command.

The video of the incident shows the cop commanding the ambulance crew to move out and the ambulance crew abruptly skedaddles, leaving the victim on the roadside with just one attendant.

(note= Viewer caution, there's a quick bit of mildly graphic footage of the victim at the very beginning)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=112573782287193&set=vb.191234658086&type=2&theater

Now your going to tell us the laws of our country? Why do you even bother posting if you know nothing about the laws of either country.

At best your just making assumptions, where old mate has obviously worked in the field.

So pack up your toys and pick up a book.

What are you on about? I said nothing about the laws of any country?

I related what happened in the video and how the Thai police interact with the public in general.

Go have a rest.

[how241]

It's not just the policeman telling them to move the ambulance, it's the fact that the paramedics actually did it that concerns me.

+1

[NomadJoe]

There needs to be more awareness of how important it is to move out of the way of an ambulance when its sirens are on. The ambulance should always have priority when moving through traffic. If there was more awareness of this, I doubt the police officer in question would have been so stupid and heartless.

It's amazing how inconsiderate people can be for some, but how respectful they can be for others.

I personally have never seen any drivers yield to a Thai ambulance.

So much for Thais Love Thais...

Here in Phuket they usually, but not always, yield. But they don't rush to get out of the way, maybe just move over a bit but don't stop.

[Torrens54]

<deleted> since when did the police have authority over ambos in a life and death situation? I have attended numerous serious incidents and accidents and we definitely can not give orders to ambo's. An ambulance attending a life threatening situation can park anywhere it bloody well likes as human life takes priority over everything. Who cares if traffic is held up if it saves a life. What the BIB should have been was diverting traffic down another route ( if possible) even if it is 1km back down the road.

I would hate to be in this coppers shoes if it was in Australia as he would be in a pile of poop and facing internal disciplinary action and lets not forget a coronial inquiry where he could be found to have contributed to the death and the civil action that may come after. If it was an Aussie ambo the copper would have been told to pull his head in and to F off.

It is not Australia.

It's really not Australia. Police are number one.

The cop commands you to move, you move. Or face the repercussions from the unstable issuer of the command.

The video of the incident shows the cop commanding the ambulance crew to move out and the ambulance crew abruptly skedaddles, leaving the victim on the roadside with just one attendant.

(note= Viewer caution, there's a quick bit of mildly graphic footage of the victim at the very beginning)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=112573782287193&set=vb.191234658086&type=2&theater

I managed to make a Cop move yesterday! At a local supermarket, he and his partner were lounging around having a "free read" of newspapers and magazines that were for sale. They were blocking the path of my trolly so I cleared my throat to get their attention, smiled and raised my eyebrows... all in the hope that their Good Manners would kick-in and they'd move.

One of them did and I thanked her in the Thai language. The other continued to lounge over a low Freezer cabinet so I said, in a "medium strength" voice, "Oi !!!" the look on his face was one of absolute shock, to think that anyone, even a farang would dare to speak to him in such a fashion. However, he DID shift his ass out of the way and like a "Good Farang", I thanked him in Thai. (My wife who saw and heard the whole episode from the other side of the Freezer) just shook her head in dismay but with just the smallest of smiles on her face.

[NomadJoe]

Actually, I have seen drivers here move over for ambulances and I would go as far as saying most drivers generally do try. Having said that, the odds are stacked against the drivers of these ambulances from being able to get through traffic, sirens or not. It is thus up to the police. If the police who control the antiquated traffic lights made a rule that no one direction would be kept waiting at the lights for more than 2 minutes then traffic would flow more easily.<br /><br />It's so frustrating and random the way they keep some lights on hold for up to 45 MINUTES while another direction is allowed to go through that entire time.<br /><br />Last week after spending more than an hour on Taksin Bridge coming from Krung Thonburi around 4.45pm I followed other frustrated drivers across the Surasak intersection and blocked traffic (by accident) when the police unexpectedly decided to turn the lights in my direction red after we were already in the middle of the intersection. My car and a number of others blocked at least one lane of traffic coming from the left. Like I gave a crap about that direction of traffic...soon however one smart policeman did find a small space for me to drive into thus allowing that one lane to become unblocked - it did however involve me having to reverse and then turn into the lane adjacent to me.<br /><br />Surprisingly yesterday along the same route and roughly the same time of day (5pm) it was incredibly fast - took just 5 minutes to cross Taksin Bridge and the Surasak intersection, how do you like that. Anyway can't wait until the Skytrain network currently under construction is complete - it should allow you to travel from the outskirts of Bangkok from places like Bang Yai or Bang Khae right into downtown, no need for a car. Looking forward to that day but it might take a few more years.

I don't understand why anyone one would choose to live in Bangkok, the traffic being just one of the reasons.

[Morakot]

If it was an Aussie ambo the copper would have been told to pull his head in and to F off.

[NomadJoe]

I don't believe this. As if.

It can be seen there's little respect for ambulances, and traffic doesn't give way here.

This is partly the fault of ambulance drivers who often use their sirens as a ploy to get through traffic even though they may not be going to/from the scene of an emergency or carrying a critically ill patient.

Really? How do you know this? Are you in the ambulance?

Not sure about the siren, but it is common for them to cruise around at normal driving speeds with emergency lights on. This is not the protocol in developed countries.

[BuddyPinkham]

There needs to be more awareness of how important it is to move out of the way of an ambulance when its sirens are on.

Is there a Thai word for "awareness"?

I think that would be mai leu

[LUSHGOAT]

There needs to be more awareness of how important it is to move out of the way of an ambulance when its sirens are on.

Is there a Thai word for "awareness"?

Yes my friend there is The Thai Word For Awareness is BAHT APPARENTLY that makes Thai's so aware its unbelievable, so there you have hope this helps

Edited June 6, 2013 by LUSHGOAT

[gemini81]

Actually, I have seen drivers here move over for ambulances and I would go as far as saying most drivers generally do try. Having said that, the odds are stacked against the drivers of these ambulances from being able to get through traffic, sirens or not. It is thus up to the police. If the police who control the antiquated traffic lights made a rule that no one direction would be kept waiting at the lights for more than 2 minutes then traffic would flow more easily.<br /><br />It's so frustrating and random the way they keep some lights on hold for up to 45 MINUTES while another direction is allowed to go through that entire time.<br /><br />Last week after spending more than an hour on Taksin Bridge coming from Krung Thonburi around 4.45pm I followed other frustrated drivers across the Surasak intersection and blocked traffic (by accident) when the police unexpectedly decided to turn the lights in my direction red after we were already in the middle of the intersection. My car and a number of others blocked at least one lane of traffic coming from the left. Like I gave a crap about that direction of traffic...soon however one smart policeman did find a small space for me to drive into thus allowing that one lane to become unblocked - it did however involve me having to reverse and then turn into the lane adjacent to me.<br /><br />Surprisingly yesterday along the same route and roughly the same time of day (5pm) it was incredibly fast - took just 5 minutes to cross Taksin Bridge and the Surasak intersection, how do you like that. Anyway can't wait until the Skytrain network currently under construction is complete - it should allow you to travel from the outskirts of Bangkok from places like Bang Yai or Bang Khae right into downtown, no need for a car. Looking forward to that day but it might take a few more years.

I don't understand why anyone one would choose to live in Bangkok, the traffic being just one of the reasons.

Because there is more job opportunity and career advancement; 10 million others thought the same thing, like most big cities.

[alanferdi]

what a shame?

[epicstuff]

Sad.....they're happy to hold up traffic for ages when a politician of member of royalty wants to drive down the road. your only worth your wealth here. motor bike !!! musty be a poorper.

[ThomasBird67]

Good thing there's video evidence so that this can't be denied. To protect, and serve (their own interests). This is ultimately why I left Thailand. Beautiful country but you can't raise a family in a place where you can't expect the police to put the safety of others first, especially when the proper course of action is so obvious. RIP to the injured and now deceased man.

Getting my family out of here next month. Thailand is a great place to live if you're single but definitely not a place to be raising kids.

[HarryMilton]

... and once again I say, never move to Thailand, or you will die.

When I first moved here I saw this guy get his chest blown open by an exploding gas container. He was bleeding out right there in front of my office. I jumped into lifeguard mode and simultaneously tried to instruct his friend on first aid while also arranging for a ride in a neighbor's truck... I swear on my life, the friend looked me in the eye and waved me off while literally a dozen other people just stood there and did absolutely nothing. No ambulance was called. Nothing was done to stop the bleeding. I eventually organized the truck and a makeshift stretcher just to see the guy check out right there in front of me.

I dont know if it's Buddhism, or a general lack of faith in infrastructure or what. But from that day I knew for sure, gawd forbid I ever find myself bleeding on the street with nothing but Thais around me.

Footnote: I didn't get a single acknowledgement for at least trying to do something .. but at least I now know for certain how I react in an emergency.

The police do the same. Countless times I've seen people laid in the road dying, arms and legs bent backwards with blood spewing and the police stood there directing traffic around them.

Rather essential I would have thought for the police to direct traffic around the incident, that happens in every civilised country including this one.

[HarryMilton]

I don't believe this. As if.

It can be seen there's little respect for ambulances, and traffic doesn't give way here.

This is partly the fault of ambulance drivers who often use their sirens as a ploy to get through traffic even though they may not be going to/from the scene of an emergency or carrying a critically ill patient.

How do you know that? Speculating? Have you examined the inside of an ambulance with lights and sirens activated?

[HarryMilton]

&lt;deleted&gt; since when did the police have authority over ambos in a life and death situation? I have attended numerous serious incidents and accidents and we definitely can not give orders to ambo's. An ambulance attending a life threatening situation can park anywhere it bloody well likes as human life takes priority over everything. Who cares if traffic is held up if it saves a life. What the BIB should have been was diverting traffic down another route ( if possible) even if it is 1km back down the road.

I would hate to be in this coppers shoes if it was in Australia as he would be in a pile of poop and facing internal disciplinary action and lets not forget a coronial inquiry where he could be found to have contributed to the death and the civil action that may come after. If it was an Aussie ambo the copper would have been told to pull his head in and to F off.

But here the ambulance service is private. Belonging to the hospitals or charity organizations. I'm not sure but I do not believe there is a state sponsored ambulance service like the UK or Australia.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6

What difference does it make whether the ambulance is private or not when it is attending an incident?

[tragickingdom]

Who cares it is just a simply poor person. If it was a Benz driver the traffic would have been blocked for hours.

[unanimosity]

If it had been a hi-so person driving a Benz it would of been a different matter no doubt.

Life is cheap in Asia expecially if youre not rich.

While everything you say has merit, it is not also true that there is no evidence that moving the ambulance caused the unconscious accident victim to expire?

[challenger99]

He looks such arrogant and fat of bribe but certain no brain to hide under the helmet amazing Thailand R.I.P victim

[challenger99]

Who cares it is just a simply poor person. If it was a Benz driver the traffic would have been blocked for hours.

I will fix the Mercedes star emblem on my motorbike. Thanks for hot tip

[HarryMilton]

Wow!

Okay...it is pretty early and I try to get my thoughts in order on this...

A cop tells an emergency crew to move an obviously immobile crash victim and the ambulance car for 100 meters , in order to ease a traffic situation that occurs on almost every road in Bangkok every single day of the year.

Did I get that right?!

And because of that delay, the crash victim died?

This policeman should not only be taken off the job immediately, he should be punished.

This is almost as if he is actively being involved in killing that guy.

I am not a native english- speaker...but that is almost man- slaughter!

What an @$$hole!

Unbelievable!

It is manslaughter.

I always find that at every accident scene in Thailand, the cops always have one priority in mind, which is to clear the road to allow traffic to flow again.

However, I've seen some eerily grim accident scenes throughout the country as a result as it doesn't seem to be a loss of face for the authorities to do something stupid in regards to road accident victims, like for instance an untrained cop to move a person's body that might be suffering from internal bleeding or a dislocated shoulder, broken spine, etc.

Usually they close only the lane of traffic that is directly blocked by the accident and keep adjacent lanes (if there are any) or in the case of a two way road create a diversion onto the shoulder allowing full view of the accident scene by motorists who drive past. During this time dozens, if not hundreds of motorists are given the opportunity to take snapshots, videos etc. of what's going on.

It's the complete opposite in China. I remember an accident back in 2011, must have been a grizzly one between Mile and Mengzi in Yunnan province on the road down to the Vietnamese border. This section of road still has two-way traffic for about 75km although an upcoming missing link in the expressway will soon allow you to travel by expressway all the way from Kunming to Hekou on the Vietnamese border. It's this missing link that bears the brunt of accidents in that region, little surprise when you think about it after coming from a nice 6-lane expressway onto a narrow 2-way road with rainwater ditches on both sides, tons of slow moving 60km/h trucks and 100km/h cars that overtake/pass blindly it's no wonder.

Anyway what happened was (according to my theory as my point here is that if an accident occurs in China you'll never see it) that a car was trying to pass an oncoming truck thus causing a head-on collision with both vehicles going into the ditch.

The aftermath? The Chinese police attended the scene, blocked ALL traffic coming from both directions thus causing an approximately 20km (maybe more) traffic jam in EACH direction while they carried out their investigations for around 3 hours. This is the amount of time we were stuck in traffic without moving even one inch (a friend and I were passengers on a Hekou bound bus) followed by another 30+ mins of very slow moving past the accident scene. Once we passed what looked like the accident scene, sand was poured over the area in which it occurred, with little evidence left of any vehicles involved.

On the return journey in the very same area an overturned truck, which had spilled some cargo onto the road blocked us for another 45 minutes. On another occasion another 3-4 hour traffic jam in the middle of the night on the Jinghong-Kunming expressway forced us to sleep inside our car inside an expressway tunnel for most of the night due to an accident.

In both cases, I never saw any evidence of any accidents. It seems the Chinese police don't want anyone to see the aftermath of an accident and are always professional in terms of investigating these accidents. Come to think of it, blocking all traffic in the direction where an accident occurred is what cops do in western countries.

That's why it's only in countries like Thailand and Vietnam where you see barbaric accidents and unprofessional scenes of police officers trying to get traffic flowing again at all costs.

Thai cop 1: "Investigate? Please explain what that means?" Thai cop 2: "Nah, we don't do that here. My shift ends at 12pm and as it's now 11.20am, I can't afford to do unnecessary things that would eat into my lunch break or my afternoon of television watching."

Quote: "In both cases, I never saw any evidence of any accidents."

So you just made up the stories of the accidents you didn't see, or see any evidence of? Brilliant. What was the point of your post then?

[Freedomfighter]

Typical BIB procedure+Thai mentality or lack thereof

[h5kaf]

This is ultimately why I left Thailand. Beautiful country but you can't raise a family in a place where you can't expect the police to put the safety of others first, especially when the proper course of action is so obvious.

Think I'm headed that way... gets tiring after many years. One would like to read they ignored the jerk off and saved someone's life, but the reality is, if they had have proceeded, there is every chance it would have drawn its pistol!

I also left this beautiful country to bring up my young child in a civilised and law abiding environment. All the beautiful attributes of Thailand (beautiful, beaches, food, people etc) cannot overcome the disastrous effect of generalised corruption on a growing and developing child. When corruption and unthinking insensitivity are displayed then it really is time to move on.

[Espinete]

The going rate for a hit & run and kill a copper is 3,000,000 Thb. according to official Ferrari Importer's family Cavallino Motors. So tranfer this cop to Sukhumvit and give him morning shifts e.g. around 05.30 am.

[NoshowJones]

I don't believe this. As if.

It can be seen there's little respect for ambulances, and traffic doesn't give way here.

This is partly the fault of ambulance drivers who often use their sirens as a ploy to get through traffic even though they may not be going to/from the scene of an emergency or carrying a critically ill patient.

The police back home is Scotland often do this when they want to go through a red light.

[frankold]

... and once again I say, never move to Thailand, or you will die.

When I first moved here I saw this guy get his chest blown open by an exploding gas container. He was bleeding out right there in front of my office. I jumped into lifeguard mode and simultaneously tried to instruct his friend on first aid while also arranging for a ride in a neighbor's truck... I swear on my life, the friend looked me in the eye and waved me off while literally a dozen other people just stood there and did absolutely nothing. No ambulance was called. Nothing was done to stop the bleeding. I eventually organized the truck and a makeshift stretcher just to see the guy check out right there in front of me.

I dont know if it's Buddhism, or a general lack of faith in infrastructure or what. But from that day I knew for sure, gawd forbid I ever find myself bleeding on the street with nothing but Thais around me.

Footnote: I didn't get a single acknowledgement for at least trying to do something .. but at least I now know for certain how I react in an emergency.

The police do the same. Countless times I've seen people laid in the road dying, arms and legs bent backwards with blood spewing and the police stood there directing traffic around them.

 

Rather essential I would have thought for the police to direct traffic around the incident, that happens in every civilised country including this one. 

Which civilised country are you from where first responders are taught to keep traffic flowing while someone is laid in the road with possibly life threatening injuries and receiving no assistance?