Shoddy Repairs Caused Deadly Bridge Collapse In Ayutthaya

[Johnnie99]

Really? Shoddy work? In Thailand? Nah......

[Maggusoil]

It will all be swept under the carpet and vanish into history. Nobody will end up going to jail. or lose their jobs or business. It's the Thai way; make a lot of noise so the 'people' think that justice will be done... and then do nowt and carry on as normal. Too many free rides and get out of jail cards for corrupt, useless and inept so called 'officials' who are 'connected' and therefore not expected to take any responsibility.

At least if a bridge falls down in the West or a factory blows up we know with certainty that someone will be punished accordingly if they were at fault.

In the West? That's a big call. IN Australia the officials will probably receiving stress management counciling for the guilt they are feeling. .

[Skorz]

lol. What an absolute bunch of balloons.

[pisico]

I wonder if the bridge disaster is in any way symbolic of the direction Thailand is headed if the rampant corruption that plagues this country is not halted?

Corruption? What corruption? It's Thai way.

Oh dear! Farang can't understand Thainess.

[pisico]

No standards of practice or safety, unfortunately Thai's don't care about anything apart from money.

I strongly disagree with that statement!!

Thais care much more about image and saving face!

[overherebc]

Instead of finding somebody to blame. Why not spend the money on enforcing the existing safety standards and hiring a Safety Professional to ensure that they are complied with and upgraded as necessary. I understand that this must be an expat as Thais will be bought as with the bridge collapse and the beam falling from a crane lift in downtown Bangkok. I know I'm dreaming.

Why is it I get very worried when people start using the term "safety professional" Expat or otherwise...Having had 25 years plus of dealing with so called "safety professionals" all I can really say for the most part, the only thing that "professional" about them is the fancy bit of paper they are issued with...but of course if you wish to employ somebody to run around a site telling people to put their safety glasses on then knock yourself out..

The whole safety thing nowadays on any large construction site comes from the bean counters, not the companies concern for the workers.

It is, in my humble opinion, worded and used to ensure that the blame lies fairly and squarely on the employees shoulders. Of course safety is important but it should not be a 'get out clause' for the company.

In many cases the employee is handed a book with all the safety rules and reg's printed in it and that is enough for the company to deny any liability in the case of any accident, small or large.

When crane inspections are carried out the 'safety' officer should be present and co-sign the report with the inspector.

If they were made to be in some way responsible for safety it might just get more things done properly.

[Thai at Heart]

Fine to criticise Thailand for this type of thing (and it is correct to criticise), but did not a bridge just fall down and a fertiliser plant just blow upin the USA? Will justice be served in any case, I suspect not. A great deal of hot air and paper shuffling, the passage of time, a few minor convictions and reparations, then nothing.

So! how is this tied to a bridge in Ayutthaya ?

I think the point was that such an event does not only happen in Thailand, and that no one would use such events elsewhere as a trigger to go off on a widely generalised accusation of a the entire Thai nation being corrupt.

That's all.

Fixing a bridge for foot traffic and motorbikes shouldn't really be beyond the scope though.

Rated wire rope is available everywhere.

[metisdead]

Trolling posts and off topic posts and replies have been removed.

[dighambara]

Fine to criticise Thailand for this type of thing (and it is correct to criticise), but did not a bridge just fall down and a fertiliser plant just blow up—in the USA? Will justice be served in any case, I suspect not. A great deal of hot air and paper shuffling, the passage of time, a few minor convictions and reparations, then nothing.

In the USA, people go to prison for cutting corners. Yes, sometimes the head guy gets away with it, but to imprison his henchmen is to give fair warning and things do improve.

By the Way, the Federal government is still investigating the Fertilizer explosion and heads might still roll over that.

[Johpa]

I wonder if the bridge disaster is in any way symbolic of the direction Thailand is headed if the rampant corruption that plagues this country is not halted?

In a word ... Yes!

My one word is.....Chaiyo!

[surangw]

repairs= some paint and a hefty bill from one of the local relatives

[Soutpeel]

Instead of finding somebody to blame. Why not spend the money on enforcing the existing safety standards and hiring a Safety Professional to ensure that they are complied with and upgraded as necessary. I understand that this must be an expat as Thais will be bought as with the bridge collapse and the beam falling from a crane lift in downtown Bangkok. I know I'm dreaming.

Why is it I get very worried when people start using the term "safety professional" Expat or otherwise...Having had 25 years plus of dealing with so called "safety professionals" all I can really say for the most part, the only thing that "professional" about them is the fancy bit of paper they are issued with...but of course if you wish to employ somebody to run around a site telling people to put their safety glasses on then knock yourself out..

The whole safety thing nowadays on any large construction site comes from the bean counters, not the companies concern for the workers.

It is, in my humble opinion, worded and used to ensure that the blame lies fairly and squarely on the employees shoulders. Of course safety is important but it should not be a 'get out clause' for the company.

In many cases the employee is handed a book with all the safety rules and reg's printed in it and that is enough for the company to deny any liability in the case of any accident, small or large.

When crane inspections are carried out the 'safety' officer should be present and co-sign the report with the inspector.

If they were made to be in some way responsible for safety it might just get more things done properly.

Yeap...Thats exact what a JHA is for, especially if they make the workers doing the job sign them, it becomes a legal document, and if there is an accident the first root cause identifed is always that the JHA is inadequate therefore legal liability is placed on the workers becasue they are the ones who typically are supose to write the JHA for a specific job

Dont get me wrong I am all for work place health and safety but over the years the HSE lark and associated "safety professionals" have turned things into a bit of farce and all most safety professionals want to do is sit behind a desk playing with HSE statistics and coming up with fancy pie charts and bar graphs and never actually going out on the site and trying to help the workers do their job safely, but then again some of the ones I have come across over the years, the best place for them is in an office away from the job as they have created more hazards on the job site with some of the hair brained schemes they come up with...

[Soutpeel]

Fine to criticise Thailand for this type of thing (and it is correct to criticise), but did not a bridge just fall down and a fertiliser plant just blow up—in the USA? Will justice be served in any case, I suspect not. A great deal of hot air and paper shuffling, the passage of time, a few minor convictions and reparations, then nothing.

In the USA, people go to prison for cutting corners. Yes, sometimes the head guy gets away with it, but to imprison his henchmen is to give fair warning and things do improve.

By the Way, the Federal government is still investigating the Fertilizer explosion and heads might still roll over that.

Even in the US, proper accountability is one of things that is missing, how many "head guys" do you know of who have been put in prison ?...

I would hazard a guess and say none and lets not talk about the Bhopol diaster (Union Carbide) no one of the US mangement team any time in an Indian jail and the CEO was charged with manslaughter and did a bunk back to the US and was declared a fugitive from Indian law and the US wouldnt extradite him to India

When accidents do occur its not the headman who is made accountable, but typically some fall guy who is a minnion in the organisation and the US is no different from Thailand in this regard...

[overherebc]

Fine to criticise Thailand for this type of thing (and it is correct to criticise), but did not a bridge just fall down and a fertiliser plant just blow up—in the USA? Will justice be served in any case, I suspect not. A great deal of hot air and paper shuffling, the passage of time, a few minor convictions and reparations, then nothing.

In the USA, people go to prison for cutting corners. Yes, sometimes the head guy gets away with it, but to imprison his henchmen is to give fair warning and things do improve.

By the Way, the Federal government is still investigating the Fertilizer explosion and heads might still roll over that.

Even in the US, proper accountability is one of things that is missing, how many "head guys" do you know of who have been put in prison ?...

I would hazard a guess and say none and lets not talk about the Bhopol diaster (Union Carbide) no one of the US mangement team any time in an Indian jail and the CEO was charged with manslaughter and did a bunk back to the US and was declared a fugitive from Indian law and the US wouldnt extradite him to India

When accidents do occur its not the headman who is made accountable, but typically some fall guy who is a minnion in the organisation and the US is no different from Thailand in this regard...

If I wrote on paper my idea of an LTA I could bet that your answer would echo mine down to the commas and periods..

[Soutpeel]

Fine to criticise Thailand for this type of thing (and it is correct to criticise), but did not a bridge just fall down and a fertiliser plant just blow up—in the USA? Will justice be served in any case, I suspect not. A great deal of hot air and paper shuffling, the passage of time, a few minor convictions and reparations, then nothing.

In the USA, people go to prison for cutting corners. Yes, sometimes the head guy gets away with it, but to imprison his henchmen is to give fair warning and things do improve.

By the Way, the Federal government is still investigating the Fertilizer explosion and heads might still roll over that.

Even in the US, proper accountability is one of things that is missing, how many "head guys" do you know of who have been put in prison ?...

I would hazard a guess and say none and lets not talk about the Bhopol diaster (Union Carbide) no one of the US mangement team any time in an Indian jail and the CEO was charged with manslaughter and did a bunk back to the US and was declared a fugitive from Indian law and the US wouldnt extradite him to India

When accidents do occur its not the headman who is made accountable, but typically some fall guy who is a minnion in the organisation and the US is no different from Thailand in this regard...

If I wrote on paper my idea of an LTA I could bet that your answer would echo mine down to the commas and periods..

I think what its is when you have worked in industry long enough, suppose you have as well, one becomes very cynical about the motivation of companies when it comes to the whole HSE lark and most people who have been in a particular game for long enough think the same way

[Andrew Eldritch]

The investigators should check if any boats were tied to this bridge as part of Plodprasop's 2011 flood water management strategy.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/504090-1000-boats-to-push-flood-waters-from-chao-phraya-river/

[Traveling Sailor]

Thailand hub of highest engineering standards in construction.

This and the MRTA incident show that education and professional standards at the levels that matter are not working.

But still refuse to utilise non-Thai experts, Thai lives are cheap.

More like standards don't exist. To hire non-Thai experts would cause "lost-face". Won't happen.