Bangkok's volunteer rescuers race to road crashes

[webfact]

Bangkok's volunteer rescuers race to road crashes
Despite a fear of ghosts, amateur 'basic teams' attend to injured and dead before police and medics arrive to earn good karma
Kate Hodal in Bangkok

BANGKOK: -- The photo arrives with a ping on Srijula Baramee's mobile as her boyfriend drives her through another red light, dodging cars and trucks at 95mph en route to a crash near one of Bangkok's many freeways.

"Ooh," Srijula says loudly over the sirens and crackling two-way radios of their four-door coupe, as she looks at the image with a grimace. "This is a bad one."

Hurtling through Bangkok's notoriously bad traffic late on a Saturday night, Srijula – known as Ju – and Jakkarin Panikabut, 20, rely on police radio to help them identify the details of the latest accident: a motorbike collision with an 18-wheeler, one suspected dead, another injured.

As volunteers with the Ruamkatanyu Foundation – a private organisation that supports the capital's fledgling emergency services – the two university students spend many of their evenings attending to Bangkok's wounded and dead, all in the name of earning good karma.

Whether it's a murder or a car crash, volunteers such as Ju and Jakkarin are often first on the scene, bypassing police to provide basic medical care to those in need and radioing for more advanced help if needed. Many of them keep connected to one another via mobile chat networks, where they share details and photos of the latest crash or emergency – partly out of macabre interest, but also to stay informed of the city's daily injuries and deaths. [read more...]

Full story: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/31/bangkok-volunteer-rescuers-crashes-karma

-- The Guardian 2013-11-01

VIDEO

[kurnell]

And the idiots on Bangkok roads will ensure they are never out of business.

[Suradit69]

The same or similar (??) subject as the videos in this thread: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/678481-the-most-heartwarming-video-you-will-ever-see-and-it-isnt-an-advert/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thaivisa24+%28Today%27s+best+Thaivisa+topics%29

Edited November 1, 2013 by Suradit69

[newermonkey]

Really? is that all they do it for? "all in the name of earning good karma"

I have been in Thailand for 30 years and I am always cynical and skeptical, (just comes with the territory!)

[harrry]

The 500 baht for delivering a body to the hospital helps I am sure. But most are doing a good job and despite their lack of training help many survive.

Edited November 1, 2013 by harrry

[richard_smith237]

I have heard them nicknamed "The Body Snatchers"... they race each other to the scene of an accident, sometimes the highly competitive nature of their business leads to such rivalry I've heard of fights and aggression until the status quo and area disputes are settled.

Apparently they receive money from the hospitals they take the injured to....

I've heard this: I have no idea if any of it is true.

But, without a national emergency service these guys are better than nothing.. I believe some operate far more professionally than others.

[JoeThePoster]

Every Tom, Dick & Harry has flashing lights and a siren on his vehicle. Never know if they're racing to an accident or just late for dinner.

[hellodolly]

Every Tom, Dick & Harry has flashing lights and a siren on his vehicle. Never know if they're racing to an accident or just late for dinner.

Must be a chaotic place you live in. Rarely see that or heasr it here in Chiang Mai and yes we do have a similar organization.

[gtm2k]

The 500 baht for delivering a body to the hospital helps I am sure. But most are doing a good job and despite their lack of training help many survive.

I think its about 2000 baht ... which sometimes explains the fights these individual volunteers get into when they often reach the spot at the same tim !

[uptheos]

Nothing new.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grbSQ6O6kbs

[impulse]

A little more info:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/05/27/thailand.ambulance.driver.volunteer.holiday/index.html?iref=allsearch

and

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2012/05/2012528151535753486.html

[IDL]

I tried to resist commenting on this because (as someone already pointed out) some ‘good’ can come out of their being there, so perhaps “…better than nothing”.

Cutting an extremely long story short: I crashed my bike one night on a hairpin bend right outside my condo (gotta love the irony). Both I and the GF miraculously flew [sideways] between a large number of vertical obstacles, landing on grass. Knocked-out by the impact to my head/face (wearing an ‘Index’ full-face helmet, properly secured) I was useless, but the GF managed to get to her feet and assess things.

My bottom lip partially dangling (impact had broken my mouth/chin-guard) and clothes saturated in blood, a ‘Rescue’ team arrived within a few minutes; we think staff at a nearby restaurant had alerted them directly, as it’s a treacherous corner, often sees incidents, and probably benefits both parties somehow. I was in-and-out of consciousness for a while, but remember several people milling around.

[i’m later told] a BIB arrived on a bike, started ranting I must be drunk then left after the GF explained what had happened…so he saddled-up n disappeared, leaving the scene without any ‘policing’. The ‘Rescue’ boys left shortly afterwards. One of our condo security guards assisted in the clean-up and recovery of my poor ole bike. We got in a taxi and went to hospital; my lip was sewn-up, the GF’s broken foot plastered.

Back at the condo I examine the damage in the bathroom mirror, when I suddenly notice my [21^st birthday gift] gold chain and ingot was missing. The GF immediately wanted to go over to the crash spot and search, but I had a snippet of footage come back to mind. Somebody reached over and grabbed at my necklace saying “I have that!” I recall saying something colourful in return and grasping the chain; also pictured putting it in my jeans pocket. My blood-drenched jeans were actually soaking in a bucket of water, and as I sifted thru the pockets, I found the chain. Ingot had gone though.

The GF reported the theft to the BIBs and spent the next week being ferried around by motorcycle taxi asking at all local pawn shops. Nothing, as one might expect.

The point to my input:

Returning to work a week later, I set about conducting our scheduled workshop. My mashed-up ‘n’ colourful face was always going to be a distraction for the staff, so the intended subject went right out of the window and we spent the session discussing the crash, volunteer ‘Rescue’ teams, police and law ‘n’ order in general.

Though I’d, at that stage, been residing in LOS for over a decade, what I was about to hear from the staff (actually middle-management of a huge company) surprised me no-end. It seems that all Thais know that the ‘Rescue’ guys steal from the scene, some suggesting that’s the main motivation for volunteering. And when I asked them “who would you call in the event of a problem, crash, assault or otherwise…the police?” An outstanding split-second reply from at least 12 of the 15 members said “NO WAY! I’d call family or a friend”.

So some may look at these volunteers filling a necessary gap, where government fails, but the reality is perhaps a little more sinister.

I for one am tired of the lawlessness here, and believe the culture is what it is; no government rulings will ever change that.

BTW, this isn’t about how good or bad I am as a rider, nor whether or not I was foolish in wearing a gold necklace. Moreover, it’s the freedom to freelance as a do-gooder, all the while being notorious for bad deeds.

[JoeThePoster]

Every Tom, Dick & Harry has flashing lights and a siren on his vehicle. Never know if they're racing to an accident or just late for dinner.

Must be a chaotic place you live in. Rarely see that or heasr it here in Chiang Mai and yes we do have a similar organization.

I'm a stones throw from one of these so called foundations. You should see the yahoos that hang out around here in their modified pick-ups with their jumpsuits and walkie-talkies.

[a99az]

Sounds like it might be a good idea for someone with time and good intentions to set up a good ambulance service with trained medics.

[bangon04]

Every Tom, Dick & Harry has flashing lights and a siren on his vehicle. Never know if they're racing to an accident or just late for dinner.

That could be part of the reason why hardly any Bangkok drivers bother to give way to them, or even move over a bit to let them get through.