2-year-old Thai girl in coma after being hit by an electric shock at an ATM

[webfact]

2-year old girl in coma after being struck by an electric shock at an ATM



BANGKOK: -- A two-year-old girl is fighting for her life at an intensive care unit of a hospital in Trang province after she was struck by an electric surge at an automatic telling machine of the Siam Commercial Bank.

The girls’s mother, 39-year old Mrs Sukalaya Nupinit, said that she was told by a doctor at the hospital to be prepared for the worst as her daughter had only 40 percent chance of survival because a brainstem had stopped functioning.

The victim has been living with the help of life-supporting machine in the hospital since she was admitted to the hospital August 7 when she was struck by the electric surge from an ATM where her father took her to withdraw some cash.

Mrs Sukalaya said electricity was leaked to the machine for several days and the problem was not fixed until several people were given electric shocks, including her two-year old daughter.

Siam Commercial Bank’s regional manager, Mr Prasarn Lohajarikul, said in a statement issued to the media that the bank felt very sorry for the incident and promised to provide full support to the victim’s family.

As for the ATM in question, bank officials and police had examined the machine to find out the problem and source of power leakage. The machine was also put out of service pending the investigation.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/2-year-old-girl-coma-struck-electric-shock-atm/

[thaipbs]2014-08-14[/thaipbs]

[Crazy chef 1]

Mrs Sukalaya said electricity was leaked to the machine for several days and the problem was not fixed until several people were given electric shocks, including her two-year old daughter.

 

As for the ATM in question, bank officials and police had examined the machine to find out the problem and source of power leakage. The machine was also put out of service pending the investigation.

 

that i would call preventive wait until somebody got severe injured.

hope the little one will recover completely.

[Pib]

Maybe SCB thought some of the earlier complaints were just shocks generated by customers finding out their account balances were suddenly a lot lower for some unexplained reason.

 

Hope the little girl fully recovers.   Thailand is so behind the times in terms of electrical safety and safety in general.

 

 

[khwaibah]

Unbelievable. How many have to die ? 9 dead by last count on a failed condo construction and now this. Totally inexcusable. My heart goes out the little girl and her family.

[96tehtarp]

Hope for the best for this little girl. With no functioning brain-stem it doesn't look good.

 

Most managers with a western mentality that I know would have shut the machine down on their own initiative at the very first suspicion of short circuit or leaking electricity. If it had been me and I was later proven wrong and the ATM machine was OK, I'd say "So fire me"!

 

 

[iReason]

"...the problem was not fixed until several people were given electric shocks."

  

 

 

[DrLom]

"Mrs Sukalaya said electricity was leaked to the machine for several days"

 

Ahum? Mother becomes electrical expert.

 

Edit: and b4 you jump on the band wagon.. poor reporting..... and yes... poor, unlucky child.

 

 

Edited August 14, 2014 by DrLom

[jacky54]

It will not be the Banks fault, it never is, they will probably blame customers for damaging the ATM in some way.

[SoFarAndNear]

Just a question. Why does a two year old child play with an ATM? Or did she just touched the outer case of the ATM?

[kimamey]

Hope for the best for this little girl. With no functioning brain-stem it doesn't look good.

 

Most managers with a western mentality that I know would have shut the machine down on their own initiative at the very first suspicion of short circuit or leaking electricity. If it had been me and I was later proven wrong and the ATM machine was OK, I'd say "So fire me"!

 

 

 

Yes let's hope for the best for this girl despite the fact the prospects don't look good.

 

Many people complain about the compensation culture in the west and there's some justification for that view but sometimes it can help. In most western countries allowing a machine that might be dangerous to continue to be used would at the very least bring the likelihood of considerable claims for damages and criminal action for breaking the much maligned health and safety rules. There are still accidents but it makes them less likely.
 

[pisico]

Unbelievable. How many have to die ? 9 dead by last count on a failed condo construction and now this. Totally inexcusable. My heart goes out the little girl and her family.

This sad "accident" relived memories of the Thai "electrician" who came to my home to install new water heaters. Before he was done with the installation I decided to check what he had done so far. I caught him in time before he was ready to snip the green wire for grounding. I insisted he grounded the water heater or I would not pay him. He angrily cursed in Thai and said: you Farang know nothing: no need green wire to make it work!

It is appalling that an ATM of a major bank had an electric leak most likely because it was not grounded.

The bank will give financial support to the family of the little girl. Not because of the goodness of their heart but because per Thai custom if the family of the victim is financially compensated, the family, abiding by tradition, will not press charges and the culprit is not prosecuted. As in the  case of sinsod, it's all about the money.

Thainess kills!

May God help this little girl fully recover!

[96tehtarp]

 

Hope for the best for this little girl. With no functioning brain-stem it doesn't look good.

 

Most managers with a western mentality that I know would have shut the machine down on their own initiative at the very first suspicion of short circuit or leaking electricity. If it had been me and I was later proven wrong and the ATM machine was OK, I'd say "So fire me"!

 

 

 

Yes let's hope for the best for this girl despite the fact the prospects don't look good.

 

Many people complain about the compensation culture in the west and there's some justification for that view but sometimes it can help. In most western countries allowing a machine that might be dangerous to continue to be used would at the very least bring the likelihood of considerable claims for damages and criminal action for breaking the much maligned health and safety rules. There are still accidents but it makes them less likely.

 

It's quite sad when no matter which angle one looks at this indecent it all comes down to the money. This applies equally if it's a compensation culture or a "mai pen rai" culture. It's money.

[doctorproc156]

I hope to hell her parents sue the heck out of Siam Commercial. Electrical safety is absolutely pathetic in Thailand.

[Bluespunk]

"Mrs Sukalaya said electricity was leaked to the machine for several days"
 
Ahum? Mother becomes electrical expert.
 
Edit: and b4 you jump on the band wagon.. poor reporting..... and yes... poor, unlucky child.
 
 

I would think any criticism of your post would be directed at the utter callousness you show towards a mother whose child is in a coma that she might not recover from.

[Zeegator]

"Mrs Sukalaya said electricity was leaked to the machine for several days"

 

Ahum? Mother becomes electrical expert.

 

Edit: and b4 you jump on the band wagon.. poor reporting..... and yes... poor, unlucky child.

 

 

 

You don't need to an "electrical expert" to know if you've had an electric shock, nor to hear others report similar incidents.

 

For someone who authors such poor posts, criticising what you consider poor reporting is a bit rich.
 

[NomadJoe]

"Mrs Sukalaya said electricity was leaked to the machine for several days"

 

Ahum? Mother becomes electrical expert.

 

Edit: and b4 you jump on the band wagon.. poor reporting..... and yes... poor, unlucky child.

 

 

 

You think it was bad luck that has likely killed this child?  Are you perhaps Thai? 

[NomadJoe]

Deaths due to faulty electrical work is so common here. Living in this country has given me a complex about it. After reading all the stories about people dying after stepping into puddles, or jumping into a pool, I avoid stepping into a puddles completely, and I can't get into a bath tub without checking it first or into pool without that doesn't already have people in it. Sometimes I am even nervous about grasping metal rails or structures after seeing a friend of mine shocked so badly after grasping a metal support after getting out of a pool, or reading about the kids electrocuted by a football bleachers. He stood there silently with a strange look on his face, unable to release his grasp on the pole or speak. Eventually someone figured out what was happening and pushed him away. I guess I have to add ATM's to the list. Edited August 14, 2014 by NomadJoe

[Loles]

SHAME on SCB.

I guess its employees have visited those failed ATM many times before, but have to wait when an innocent 2 yrs old girl pays with her life. Idiocy.

[seabass69]

I hope to hell her parents sue the heck out of Siam Commercial. Electrical safety is absolutely pathetic in Thailand.

They'll just waive the monthly fees for a year...mai bpen rai

[DrLom]

 

"Mrs Sukalaya said electricity was leaked to the machine for several days"
 
Ahum? Mother becomes electrical expert.
 
Edit: and b4 you jump on the band wagon.. poor reporting..... and yes... poor, unlucky child.
 
 

I would think any criticism of your post would be directed at the utter callousness you show towards a mother whose child is in a coma that she might not recover from.

 

Why would a responsible mother let her 2 year old child near to a machine that has been leaking electricity for several days, as she asserted?

 

It's not a callous question, it's pragmatic. Typical Western sensitivity. I noted poor wording and reporting, not insensitivity.

[pisico]

I hope to hell her parents sue the heck out of Siam Commercial. Electrical safety is absolutely pathetic in Thailand.

In Thailand, personal responsibility is not the norm. It is always something or somebody's fault.

If the parents do sue the bank (which I think unlikely because they are elite and uber connected to the powers that be) the bank may argue in its defense: "Was the little girl wearing her amulet?" Thainess in Thailand can be bizarre. I have been told the amulet bit many times even in an environment of professionals with university degrees in SCIENCE. 

 

 

[Bluespunk]

 

"Mrs Sukalaya said electricity was leaked to the machine for several days"
 
Ahum? Mother becomes electrical expert.
 
Edit: and b4 you jump on the band wagon.. poor reporting..... and yes... poor, unlucky child.
 
 

I would think any criticism of your post would be directed at the utter callousness you show towards a mother whose child is in a coma that she might not recover from.
 

Why would a responsible mother let her 2 year old child near to a machine that has been leaking electricity for several days, as she asserted?
 
It's not a callous question, it's pragmatic. Typical Western sensitivity. I noted poor wording and reporting, not insensitivity.

You may need sensitivity training, because your previous mocking of the mother was callous and insensitive. Your new charge of irresponsible parenting is equally so.

[thesetat2013]

Just a question. Why does a two year old child play with an ATM? Or did she just touched the outer case of the ATM?

Maybe you never had kids. They are all hands..... You go in an elevator and they want to help push the button. Everywhere kids are same in this. I for one encouraged and aided my kids to help me. In this case thoug i believe the outer case was electrified.
Poor family though. To lose someone so young. They have my sympathy

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[vspin134]

Bank official offered baht 5,000 to help with the expense to the family. What a shame living in Los in such a cheap life when you got electrocuted and with 40 survival rate.

[ChrisY1]

Electrical faults are all part of daily life here.......but an ATM seems odd.....of course have a safety switch with ELCB would have prevented this....."but it's different here....we don't use that stuff!"

[DrLom]

 

 

I hope to hell her parents sue the heck out of Siam Commercial. Electrical safety is absolutely pathetic in Thailand.

In Thailand, personal responsibility is not the norm. It is always something or somebody's fault.

If the parents do sue the bank (which I think unlikely because they are elite and uber connected to the powers that be) the bank may argue in its defense: "Was the little girl wearing her amulet?" Thainess in Thailand can be bizarre. I have been told the amulet bit many times even in an environment of professionals with university degrees in SCIENCE. 

 

 

 

 

It's sad how we can't even discuss the root of the problems in Thailand without going to jail. For a country that had never been colonized, it is very sad to see how the country has not progressed at all since 1932.

 

Hit the nail on the head. Farangs all talk about such, and offer expressions, and yet nothing is placed on paper to actually advise about changes. It's all half-witted or half-hearted, as if there is some kind of fear- such that any external interference would banish every farang from the country. Personally, I don't give a shit about expressing honest and valid observations.. and have not done for 10 years; yet, I am still here - and legally.

 

The root of all evil abounds here in huge capacities, for the elite. Simple as that. Until they are really exposed for what and whom they are, nothing is going to change. Yet, the divide is sooooooo huge, the money involved to hide the creeps is so vast it cannot break that divide, as the intention of EVERY Thai is to currently better their own monetary benefits, and not to benefit society as a whole. Unfortunate, but true.

[Pib]

Safety in Thailand will remain of secondary concern until laws are updated to allow some serious money to be won in law suits.  Now the laws limit law suit compensation/damages to small amounts. Plus, it seems Thais prefer out-of-court compensation just to avoid trying to sue someone which could take forever in the Thai justice system.  But with such law changes comes higher product/services prices due to insurance requirements, higher insurance premiums, etc....and of course many more ambulance chasing lawyers.

[Thai at Heart]

Please someone sue this bloody bank for bazillions.

How stupid can they be even after getting warned?

[DisainaM]

Electrical faults are all part of daily life here.......but an ATM seems odd.....of course have a safety switch with ELCB would have prevented this....."but it's different here....we don't use that stuff!"

 

Subject : Lack of electric standarts on public places

 

An ELCB ( RCBO / FI / Safe T-Cut) breaker should be a standart protection for public consumer electric.

 

How long will it take, that the casualties of low electric standarts are not acceptable for Thai society ?

[Arkady]

No doubt it was connected with the usual two pin plug which can be connected the wrong way round or with a three pin plug with no ground wire connected. The two pin plugs where designed in the US for use with only 110 volts and now I'm the US the are designed to only go in one way round with one pin bigger .


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