Iranian, American teenagers electrocuted at swimming pool of Bangkok condominium

[mrjonyoung]

Horrendous.

Safety first. And I hope the families sue the hell out of the condo management. It might create a small change in the understanding for liability in public places.

how about inspection requirements? Thai building code: faster, cheaper, easier.

[flyingdoc]

Extremely sad indeed. R.I.P.

[MMarlow]

Right. Thailand. Land of Smiles. First World country. Asian Tiger.

Two kids who didn't have to go but did because some a**hole contractor did a crap grounding job and probably charged (no pun intended) double for it while kicking back 50% to his building manager buddy.

They don't have a Thai building manager.

[doremifasol]

R.I.P Daryush and Paul

[soistalker]

Never grab someone getting electrocuted. If you must touch them, hit them like an American football player would hit an opponent.

[noitom]

Condolences to the family on this tragic and senseless loss of young life. The confluence of electric power and water all around in Thailand from streets, buildings, shops, and condo swimming pools is an extraordinary risk and danger to human life. Thais can bluster, posture and puff all they want, but the truth is that Thailand and particularly Bangkok is a nightmare of this type of electrocution risk.

[SwimmingPoolsThailand]

Many people living in accommodation with communal swimming pools (mansions, condos, housing developments) are blithely unaware of possible sub-standard electrical installations. And not only in Pattaya - we've also seen some horrendous situations in Krabi, Bangkok, and Phuket.

The conditions in many of the pump rooms - which all too often degrade into a total slum - would certainly put anyone off from putting their feet in the pool.

If you own a condo or a villa as a rental investment, you may even be held partly responsible for accidents to your tenants.

Consider insisting on an inspection by a local (but genuine) pool professional. There might be a small fee, but nothing the co-property committee can't afford for the safety of its residents.

[mdmayes]

RIP. Cut down to early in life.

[joshstiles]

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OHHHHHHHHHHHH my God,

pool light must to be low voltage (24 V) with contact-breaker.

Some-one who put there high voltage lamp is an idiot and do take this animal to the court, where he can say the ordinary dumb text: solly, solly krab.

The Iranian was a hero, tried to save his American mate. I hope the politicians listen to this guide.

Wha???? Is this some sort of 'dig' about American politics? Remember....Iran received a lot of money from the US. Personally I consider US politics to be of the lowest backhanded in the world....they are the great whores of this world as described in Revelations (a book written by men). So if an Iranian saves an American (as you alude to).....he was first off....paid.

[joshstiles]

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Safety first, something thailand is famous for..........

Safety First = Don't Come To Thailand....AND....DON'T SEND YOUR CHIILDREN HERE!!!!!!!!!!!! It's not a &lt;deleted&gt; playground for children....stupid farangs.

[johnno2]

Evidently the victims have deceased, but it never says that in the article. I get electrocuted now and then and I think I'm still here.

Condolences to the families. Congrats to their attorneys.

Full Definition of ELECTROCUTE

transitive verb

1

: to execute (a criminal) by electricity

2

: to kill by electric shock

— elec·tro·cu·tion \-ˌlek-trə-ˈkyü-shən\noun

congratulations casper

[johnlandy]

What a terrible tragedy for these boys and their families.

It's no point looking for blame as it's likely none will be found.

...and little use hoping that others will learn from this and fix other potential problems...but that may be wishful thinking as well.

Sad.

This is consistent with the very bad electrical wiring standards in the realm.

But, for you to say "It's no point looking for blame as it's likely none will be found" if the incident is not thoroughly investigated it will happen again and again (as it does with alarming frequency in the realm)

Burying ones head in the sand does no one any good.

AND, can we take it from your comment you would shrug it off were it your wife, gf, or child was to die with "mai pen rai"

[tezzainoz]

You people make me laugh !!!

Look at your own houses, I am an Electrical Field Foreman in Saudi Arabia in charge of 6 oil rigs, I DO understand electricity. How many of you have appliances with the 2 round pins and the hole in it for the Earth connection (which can't connect) and still use them?

Do you REALLY expect Somchai, from the rice paddy to understand electricity? He is all you are going to get for 200 to 500 baht a day. There are electricians in this country who actually know what they are doing but hey are making $4000 a month.

You want European standards and safety but don't want to pay for it !! And on top of that you wont use your own common sense to ensure your own safety !!!

Well guess what YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR !!

I am in the process of helping a friend have his house wired and although the electrician doesn't seem stupid, his lack of understanding is mind boggling, he didn't even know you could solder wires to make a join !! (until I showed him).

The price of a combined MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker) / RCD (Residual Current Device) in this country is more than double of that in Australia, and I am talking $40 to $110, no wonder no one uses them !! (I have done the home work and have both quotes). Trying to buy stranded cables here (which are the norm now in Australia) is not impossible but it as sure as Dickin's isn't easy I still haven't got it in my hand yet).

The power distribution system in this country from my own observation is actually very good. Too good, the transformers are grounded. The "mess" you see out there is the telecommunications system, not electric. They actually have standards, and appear to follow them. The problem is there appears to be no standards for the home, after the meter it is a "free for all". If I am wrong and someone has a copy of household electrical standards PLEASE send them to me.

So how much is your life worth? Would you pay $100 for a DOT approved helmet when you ride your bike? or do you wear an ice cream bucket because you can? Would you pay me my travelling and accommodation costs from Phuket and let's say $50 an hour to make sure your electrical installation is safe (not fixing it just inspecting and testing it)?

I am VERY sorry that 2 young lives were taken before their time , but ALL of you are just a culpable, put up or shut up !!! Don't just turn a blind eye, do something about it !! Put your money where your mouth is......

saddly I have to agree

when I set up our new home I brought the detectors with me in my luggage

Had a local electrician to wire them in, but at my directions

the unit had red and brown on the markings and no A & N so he was lost

[theoldgit]

Insulting remark removed.

[balo]

RIP Paul , his girlfriend is devastated now and all his friends at the school . This should never have happened.

[CMCMANGOMAN]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

OHHHHHHHHHHHH my God,

pool light must to be low voltage (24 V) with contact-breaker.

Some-one who put there high voltage lamp is an idiot and do take this animal to the court, where he can say the ordinary dumb text: solly, solly krab.

The Iranian was a hero, tried to save his American mate. I hope the politicians listen to this guide.

Wha???? Is this some sort of 'dig' about American politics? Remember....Iran received a lot of money from the US. Personally I consider US politics to be of the lowest backhanded in the world....they are the great whores of this world as described in Revelations (a book written by men). So if an Iranian saves an American (as you alude to).....he was first off....paid.

FYI: There is no book of "Revelations" in the Bible. But there is a book of Revelation. Do try and keep up, will you.

[CMCMANGOMAN]

Irony is: As a retired US mechanical engineer with licensed experience dealing with properly designed electrical supply systems for both commecial and residential buildings I am persona-non-grata as far as a consultant for such things in Thailand. Even if I showed up and wanted to help for free I could not do it. They'd kick me out of the country for "working" illegally. I have coined it "Thai-rony" in musings to myself as I walk around observing pre-accidents. TIT.

[nontabury]

What a terrible tragedy for these boys and their families.

It's no point looking for blame as it's likely none will be found.

...and little use hoping that others will learn from this and fix other potential problems...but that may be wishful thinking as well.

Sad.

This is consistent with the very bad electrical wiring standards in the realm.

But, for you to say "It's no point looking for blame as it's likely none will be found" if the incident is not thoroughly investigated it will happen again and again (as it does with alarming frequency in the realm)

Burying ones head in the sand does no one any good.

AND, can we take it from your comment you would shrug it off were it your wife, gf, or child was to die with "mai pen rai"

It's not a matter of shrugging it off, it's simple knowing that no action will be taken by the Thai authorities. Yes, I know this is not a satisfactory response, but it is the reality of what happens in Thailand.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[JulianLS]

Sad story, but there's seomthing odd about it. "Hosseini tried to pull him from the lamp pole but the two were electrocuted."

If this was AC power, don't you get thrown away from the thing you touch? With DC power you get stuck to the item you touched, as does anyone who touches you. Doesn't this imply the pool lamp was DC?

Why would the pool lighting be DC?

Only in the movies do you get thrown back! Alas not in real life...

Whether DC or AC, the current will cause involuntary muscle contractions... preventing movement away, and perhaps causing one to grip the live object.

RIP guys. What a tragic loss of life....

[phanangpete]

You may recall, the Engish tourist in his early twenties, second day on holiday in Phuket was drinking with some young Thai's ,it had been raining , he got up to go inside the bar put his hand on a socket which was on the wall outside, electrocuted. No arrests.

The father of two ,was swimming with them in the pool at a five star hotel, the mother was lounging at the side.

He heard the scream of one of his kids , so he turned to swim to see what had happened, over the pool was a metal bridge, as he got to the son he unwittingly grabed hold of the bridge, electrocuted , he was Russian and they were staying in Phuket, no arrests.

Both these tradgedies only a year ago,

When will they change take resonsibility ?

[ThaiKiwi]

and it could happen anywhere in the world. I think we need another campaign like Mr. Awesome

There have been 60 deaths and nearly 50 serious shocks reported over the past 13 years involving electrical hazards in and around swimming pools in USA. (CPSC)

There has probably been another 100 or so deaths in american marinas from electrocution.(Chicago Turbine)

And this video is a lesson on what can happen in a pool http://news.sky.com/story/1267145/kids-electric-shock-in-pool-caught-on-cctv This was in Florida.

[lockman]

I remember when we had some gates welded,they plugged the arc welder into a plug socket in the house,which flipped the cutout every 2 seconds,when i suggested the plug it in in the hair salon,next to the house,which has a seperate fuse box etc from the house and no other appliances running,all i got was" my pen rai" i told my wife it will be a problem if they burn out the house wiring,that's why i suggest using the salon",no,this Thailand is different" she told me ,i blew my top and yelled at them that they knew F#$@ all,and unplugged the welder and told them to come back next day with a generator,so what did they do next day,wire the welder directly to the power pole, no thought of safety what so ever,i am no expert,but i am sure a large arc welder is not designed to be plugged in to a household socket,with these kind of attitudes, no wonder these poor lads were electrocuted,is there even such a thing as a licence for electricians in Thailand,it would seem not.

Actually if you have the higher quality sockets AND oversized wiring as I had done, you can operate welders on them quite nicely. All I did when building the garage and they wanted to hook 2 welders up was have them hook to different phases and I swapped out a 16 to a 20 amp breaker. I specked out all wiring boxes, grounds on both the house and later garage. I was here when they wanted to connect (dumb) direct to meter. Funny, when they dropped a drill in a puddle all the power went off.

[Thai at Heart]

Horrendous.

Safety first. And I hope the families sue the hell out of the condo management. It might create a small change in the understanding for liability in public places.

How much is a death worth here ? I remember a tourist female killed by an elephant at a show total comp 80,000 baht.

Well if it was my son.

Priceless. Millions and millions and millions.

[nontabury]

Horrendous.

Safety first. And I hope the families sue the hell out of the condo management. It might create a small change in the understanding for liability in public places.

How much is a death worth here ? I remember a tourist female killed by an elephant at a show total comp 80,000 baht.

Well if it was my son.

Priceless. Millions and millions and millions.

If the above example is correct, then as foreigners they were very lucky to get even that small amount. Not only will the police not help you to get justice, the same can be said of the Thai courts.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Kasset Tak]

In Thailand safety comes first only on one place, the signs that sais "SAFETY FIRST"!

I went to a fair for vocational education in February. When the evening came and they turned on the lights the lights in one row of tents didn't work. They (I don't know who) just went there with a pair of scissors, cut out the piece of the line with damages, twinned the ends together and spreaded the lines about 1 meter apart without inoculation tape and just left it like that.

During all this they DIDN'T even turned of the power!?!?!? And as I wrote, this was a fair for VOCATIONAL EDUCATION and what do you show/teach the students if you do something like this?!

Edited May 31, 2014 by Kasset Tak

[louse1953]

i bought a washing machine from homepro, with free install. i hacked out the wall and changed the pipe fittings from 'pointing 6 inches out from the wall' to 'turned 90 degrees to the right'. this saves the machine sitting 2 foot away from the wall. i also hacked out the un-earthed shaver socket and refitted an rcd.

the fitter turned up and noticed id modified the socket. he plugged it in, took a photo of it working and left.

2 hours later i get a phone call from homepro saying that because i had fitted an rcd the warranty on the machine was void. how can you work with that level of stupidity?

Send back the washing machine,and watch them back pedal.

[thaibeachlovers]

I remember when we had some gates welded,they plugged the arc welder into a plug socket in the house,which flipped the cutout every 2 seconds,when i suggested the plug it in in the hair salon,next to the house,which has a seperate fuse box etc from the house and no other appliances running,all i got was" my pen rai" i told my wife it will be a problem if they burn out the house wiring,that's why i suggest using the salon",no,this Thailand is different" she told me ,i blew my top and yelled at them that they knew F#$@ all,and unplugged the welder and told them to come back next day with a generator,so what did they do next day,wire the welder directly to the power pole, no thought of safety what so ever,i am no expert,but i am sure a large arc welder is not designed to be plugged in to a household socket,with these kind of attitudes, no wonder these poor lads were electrocuted,is there even such a thing as a licence for electricians in Thailand,it would seem not.

I live in my wife's sister's house ( built by the SIL and BIL ) and shortly after I moved in I was cleaning up the carport. I found one of those old style knife mains switches on the wall with no cover. Luckily I found out the thing was still connected directly to the mains in BEFORE the circuit breaker, so anyone touching it would have fried, at least till the transformer blew ( if it even did ) . Needless to say, it got a cover pronto.

However, when the welders came to do a job, I was able to stop them tripping the breakers all the time by wiring in a plug to the aformentioned knife switch. When in Rome etc.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 months ago my wifes friend came over with her 3 year old and decided to see if a metal rod will fit inside and electric power socket

1st thing she knew was the power went out all through the house, then found the child playing with the socket

Wife/s Friend believes it was her mother ghost that turned off the power before the baby put in the metal spike

This is one of the saddest things I've ever read

1st Point: Sorry I should have posted that "when Core Balance is installed, the power cuts off in 1/10 of a heartbeat"

so the child was not even given a shock

The Core Balance is installed at the main Pwr box so cover all the power points in the house

2nd Point: In Thai culture every thing good and bad that happens to you is in direct cosequence to the ghosts you have in the house

For exmple: Thai wife will not walk under a washing line as this will upset the spirits.

I thought it had to do with the fact that under garment could have been hung there

but same happened with brand new never used washing line

Installing an RCD was the best 3,000 baht I ever spent. I was pulling a tv aerial wire across the ceiling using a piece of steel wire, when it touched what turned out to be the exposed light fitting wires left by the so called electrician. Never even got a tingle, but it could have been oh so different.