Students seriously injured by 'electric shock' at Wakor Science Park

[kimamey]

So the technicians knew about the dangerous circuitry and chose to do nothing about it, which makes them culpable.

And the next time you're in Bangkok, notice how many locals avoid using handrails while using bridges.

I have balance problems so I often have to use metal hand rails. I try to remember to touch it with the back of my hand first.

[sydneyjed]

Who remembers these preventable deaths in Phuket...Bloody death traps!!!

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/539215-russian-tourist-electrocuted-in-phuket-resort-pool/

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/325785-germanthai-student-dies-of-electrocution-in-phuket/

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/493250-20-year-old-briton-electrocuted-to-death-on-bangla-road-phuket/

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Reminds me of the news report posted here previously out of one of the resort cities with a guest had gone to the swimming pool of a resort hotel, touched some pool railing there, and was electrocuted....

Thais seem to have a problem with electricity, both when it's off (the South Blackout) and when it's on (the tendency for people here to be needlessly electrocuted).

[lemonjelly]

What is the training required to be an electrician in Thailand? Is it merely attending one of those technical colleges (often because the student's attention span couldn't carry them to matyom 4 in high school), and, do the tech colleges also have a 'no fail' policy? One needs to be quite savvy to be an electrician, and haviing seen the lads from the local tech college in the area where I live, 'savvy' is not a description that springs to mind, and even if it did, it would be near the back of a long queue with such phrases as 'complete div' taking priority.

Edited June 24, 2013 by lemonjelly

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I don't think there's any licensing or certification here for the common guys who do electrical work... or at least -- I've never seen any evidence of any.

[rbrooks]

Next story... move on... happens every day in Thailand and will continue to do so until they implement safety standards. Many tourists have been killed by electrocution in Thailand due to piss poor electrical work but nothing has ever been improved.

A country which carries out thousands of unregulated work practices on such a wide scale in gay abandon and absolutely no surprise to see nothing is being done to regulate(even in buildings such as this?)

The basic fundemental safe installation of electrical wiring you would think is of paramount importance and common sense...but alas not in Thailand!How many of us notice plugs sparking when using them?Frightening to even think how many potential death traps are around us on a daily basis....bloody frightening!

Triple the threat of "filled with leaked electricity" during flood season. Only in Thailand.

Edited June 24, 2013 by rbrooks

[surangw]

somchai the electrician to his partner

"here, hold this wire"

feel anything?

ok, then don't touch the other wire.

[Lobo4819]

So the technicians knew about the dangerous circuitry and chose to do nothing about it, which makes them culpable.

And the next time you're in Bangkok, notice how many locals avoid using handrails while using bridges.

Culpable? Impossible - that would mean loss of face!

[Lobo4819]

Dont touch metal in Thailand ,unless you see some one else touched it and survives,

also stay out of taxi's ,busses,.....elevators

in short ; ONLY TOUCH WOOD ,unless it's burning.

and wear rubber boots but not when it floods, this is shocking news, i wonder what bright sparks are running the country. Everyone will be in denial as to who is responsible

Add to the list motosy, car, bus (no brakes), train (washed out bed), tuk-tuk, taxi, water ferry ........ hell, just wear the old full-body condom and a helmet.

[lee b]

poor kids dont think they will be going there again...

[DekDaeng]

"How many of us notice plugs sparking when using them?"

This is normal with computers as they have a high AC current influx when the capacitors in the DC supply inside charges. More obvious here as no switch on the plug.

You can get around the sparking by plugging in when the AC voltage crosses zero - 100 or 120 times per second.

Let me know if you work out how to do it!

[Bagwan]

Can't say I'm shocked by this story.

Nor surprised given the standard of electrical installations in this country.

What is equally shocking (no pun intended) is the equally shocking standard of journalism in the report i.e. which was 'filled' with leaked electricity from the building′s circuit.

Perhaps they might master the 'kings English' before the end of the millennia. But I will not be holding my breath.

I prefer the OED version than that of the royals. Have you forgotten 'annus horribilis' already?

[Unkomoncents]

No children of the rich/famous died so I'm sure in the minds of Thais: no harm no foul. The day my son received his green card and we left Thailand was the best day of my son's life, he just doesn't know it yet. As the son of a lowly farang (and not some distant descendant of one of Rama V's concubines), he would surely have suffered treatment befitting his status as the rough equivalent of cattle in the progressive minds of the mighty Thais.

[Sakeopete]

I was electrocuted by a shower heater in Bangkok. Somchai attached the ground to a plastic pipe. Thai electrical engineering 101!

[EyesWideOpen]

Have to admit, electricity and Thais do not seem to be a good mix.

Guess because they cannot see it... :-) Was nearly electrocuted myself.

I was changing out a shower hot water heater. I carefully turned the breaker

off first, then grabbed the wires to move them out of the way while I dismounted the heater. Standing in bare feet on a wet floor, got the shock of my life.

After I recovered , I checked everything out to figure out what happened. Turns out Somchai the electrician had wired the breaker in on the neutral wire, not the hot wire. So with the breaker off, the unit would be off but the hot wire would still be live. If this is what passes as Thai electrical work, be careful in touching anything..... :-)

[belg]

thailand, is there any place that has real ground wire? not in my "new - 5 year old house"

[MikeOboe57]

thailand, is there any place that has real ground wire? not in my "new - 5 year old house"

The contractor doing the renovation of our house just used two cables. We had to separately "ground" our washing machine as it was handing out electric shocks when touched.

[RigPig]

thailand, is there any place that has real ground wire? not in my "new - 5 year old house"

The contractor doing the renovation of our house just used two cables. We had to separately "ground" our washing machine as it was handing out electric shocks when touched.

And how diid you do that?

[wolf5370]

_{In my house (3 years old ) every socket is three pin. The consumer unit has an earth. However, when I removed a socket to make an extension, the earth pin was not connected. Indeed, those all the appliances have earth, the electrician that did the house on build used 2-core wire all over (in the wall) so might aw well have 2 pin sockets. I paid 10k for a goof quality fixed RCD - and it has saved me twice (also have a local RCD on the shower circuit).}

_{It is about time that commercial buildings (especially those open to public) is forced to put such devices in (its not that expensive) - this can be easily enforced by instituting super large fines for shock cases at such places where no device has been fitted (or is bypassed/broken etc).}

[wolf5370]

Have to admit, electricity and Thais do not seem to be a good mix.

Guess because they cannot see it... :-) Was nearly electrocuted myself.

I was changing out a shower hot water heater. I carefully turned the breaker

off first, then grabbed the wires to move them out of the way while I dismounted the heater. Standing in bare feet on a wet floor, got the shock of my life.

After I recovered , I checked everything out to figure out what happened. Turns out Somchai the electrician had wired the breaker in on the neutral wire, not the hot wire. So with the breaker off, the unit would be off but the hot wire would still be live. If this is what passes as Thai electrical work, be careful in touching anything..... :-)

I had exactly the same thing happen - blew me off a (metal) ladder. The Mrs had just said, best to turn it all off - no I said, I'll just pull the fuse. I even checked before hand by pulling the fuse and checking the power was off on the shower (of course it was there was no circuit - yet). She still brings it up every time I moan about knee pain/stiffness (the fall from the ladder caused me to rip the rotator cuff in my shoulder and break the patella of my left knee in half) - "You don't listen to me!" she says - and almost as often "You can't trust Thai people" (meaning electricians specifically - and other 'skilled' people generally - with respect to their quality of work).

[masuk]

Next story... move on... happens every day in Thailand and will continue to do so until they implement safety standards. Many tourists have been killed by electrocution in Thailand due to piss poor electrical work but nothing has ever been improved.

A country which carries out thousands of unregulated work practices on such a wide scale in gay abandon and absolutely no surprise to see nothing is being done to regulate(even in buildings such as this?)

The basic fundemental safe installation of electrical wiring you would think is of paramount importance and common sense...but alas not in Thailand!How many of us notice plugs sparking when using them?Frightening to even think how many potential death traps are around us on a daily basis....bloody frightening!

It's not too different in many parts of Asia..

In Indonesia, our maid's nephew was electrocuted, as he'd put a towel to dry on a wire in the roof area. It was/is 'normal' to use uninsulated wiring within the house, to save on installation costs.

Two weeks ago, a repairman came to our house and I just had to take a photo or two of his power setup for his drill. The extension cable was not much more than speaker wire, the connection from the extension cord to the drill was tacked together with insulation tape.

[Rorri]

Head of maintenance to be included in brain checks...oh there isn't one.

What, no "head of maintenance" or "no brain?" or both.

[Rorri]

Next story... move on... happens every day in Thailand and will continue to do so until they implement safety standards. Many tourists have been killed by electrocution in Thailand due to piss poor electrical work but nothing has ever been improved.

I would say many Thais, non- Thais and tourists.

[Rorri]

thailand, is there any place that has real ground wire? not in my "new - 5 year old house"

The contractor doing the renovation of our house just used two cables. We had to separately "ground" our washing machine as it was handing out electric shocks when touched.

And how diid you do that?

Somchai did the right thing with our washing machine, no earth on the power point, so he ran a separate earth, from the chassis to earth. OK, so he made one "little" error, he attached the "earth wire" to ground by via a screw into the CONCRETE pad.

[RigPig]

This is actually amusing, my cleaner was getting "tickles" off the tap out the back so am making them install a ground rod and an RCD in the house I rent. Even took the (and I use the term VERY loosely) electrician for a walk to the transformer down the road and showed him the ground wire, then drew a picture. I hope he grasps some of it, he seems to understand 3 phases and that electricity needs a return path so I guess that's a start. I know but I can't help myself, if he understands some of it at the end of all this maybe I'll save 1 person. Had to tell them I was going to move out and not pay the rent mind you to get this far, funny how money makes a difference .....

[Scott]

An inflammatory post has been deleted.

[stormstereo]

I enjoyed all the witty posts but here's one to show this is not a Thai problem per se. A newspaper in Denmark recently decided to visit one of Denmark's two most famous amusement parks and bring an electrician with them. Within 45 minutes they found 25 illegal and dangerous installations within reach of children. Naked wires, rain water-filled plugs et cetera. There's pictures and all. In Danish but Google Translate might help. The authorities are contemplating a visit and the head of the park, Nils-Erik Winther, said they will fix everything within days.

[joeaverage]

Police officers from Klong Warn police station said the technicians at the museum told them that the establishment had been poorly maintained, especially its electric circuit, which led to the accident.

one cant help but wonder if the technicians were not responsible for maintaining the "electric circuit", who on earth was?

Edited June 25, 2013 by joeaverage

[Credo]

I enjoyed all the witty posts but here's one to show this is not a Thai problem per se. A newspaper in Denmark recently decided to visit one of Denmark's two most famous amusement parks and bring an electrician with them. Within 45 minutes they found 25 illegal and dangerous installations within reach of children. Naked wires, rain water-filled plugs et cetera. There's pictures and all. In Danish but Google Translate might help. The authorities are contemplating a visit and the head of the park, Nils-Erik Winther, said they will fix everything within days.

Of course the problem exists elsewhere. The difference is that in Denmark it was professionals finding the problems and not children who ended up in a hospital.

[MikeOboe57]

thailand, is there any place that has real ground wire? not in my "new - 5 year old house"

The contractor doing the renovation of our house just used two cables. We had to separately "ground" our washing machine as it was handing out electric shocks when touched.

And how diid you do that?

A "specialist" attached one end of a wire to the rear of the washing machine and stuck the other end in a hole he had drilled in the wall. Check - no more shocks - finished. I guess you can't be too picky when you want to live in this country.