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

[StealthEnergiser]

Very sad to see this happen r.i.p to young lady and condolences to the family.

 

I was once using a kasikorn atm in pattaya on second road about 5 years ago and that was giving off shocks people kept using it , there was also lot of water around it from floods but it certaintly was not safe to use.

[webfact]

Mother decides to pull plug, let go brain-dead toddler

BANGKOK: -- The mother of two-year-old girl who became brain dead after suffering an electric shock decided to pull the plug of her life support machine at a Trang hospital Friday morning.

The girl died soon after her mother told doctors to switch off the machine.

The girl was shocked by a Siam Commercial Bank ATM in Trang last week.

The mother agreed to switch off the machine after her condition did not improve and doctor tried but failed to revive her brain and her heart also stopped. Doctors said the girl mainly lived on the life supporting machine.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Mother-decides-to-pull-plug-let-go-brain-dead-todd-30240998.html

[thenation]2014-08-15[/thenation]

[Tywais]

 

Sad to hear.  R.I.P for the young one and condolences to the family and may SCB pay for their negligence.  Start by doing full examination of all ATMs.

[Cuchulainn]

Tragic.

 

No amount of money will console the parents, but the bank should be sued for millions.

 

.........Siam Commercial Bank’s regional manager, Mr Prasarn Lohajarikul, said earlier e 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......

 

and what the hell does that mean?

Edited August 15, 2014 by Cuchulainn

[Just1Voice]

Tragic.

 

No amount of money will console the parents, but the bank should be sued for millions.

 

.........Siam Commercial Bank’s regional manager, Mr Prasarn Lohajarikul, said earlier e 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......

 

and what the hell does that mean?

 

Means they'll pay for the funeral, and toss a few thousand baht to the family.  Conscious is then clear.

[connda]

 

Before 1964 in Canada, most household electrical service was not grounded properly (2 pronged plugs). People (including me) were regularily non-fataly electrocuted. I suspect our better luck was due to 120 volt power whereas here in Thailand service is at 220 volts. Connecting that green line is clearly a matter of life and death here. Very sad for the little girl and her family. An unnecessary tragedy, sames as the young boys at the swimming pool and so many others.
Why is it that electricians are not taken to task over this. A simple examination of the equipment would indicate improper installation. The installer and the installation company need to be held responsible if Thailand wants to fix this. If regulations do not require proper grounding they need to be corrected as soon as possible and installers need to be made aware of their liability. The bank is liable only if they were aware of the problem and were not diligent in taking it offline for repairs.
Good luck little girl, I hope you recover and have a happy life.

A life is worth nothing here 10,000 to 100,000 baht seems the norm depending on if it is an accidental death or murder. Remember the tsunami or any plane crash on Thai soil. With that said. To corporate Thailand connecting that green wire across Thailand would cost more then the lives it would save. Money first...

 

 

What's ironic is if you hit and total the average new car, you'd be on the hook for 1M+ baht.  Kill the driver and your on the hook for between 10K to 100K.  Life's cheap.  Sort of explains why Thai drivers have no incentive (deterrent) to alter their driving habits. 

[technologybytes]

 

Firstly, the ATM would certainly be grounded

Welcome to the forum. You must be brand new to Thailand?

 

 

I'm not suggesting it would be grounded for safety reasons, but because if it's not grounded it won't work very well.

 

Unless of course they have started making Thai ATM's... of course not, they use NCR, Nixdorf etc etc the same as the rest of the world.

 

You can't make comparisons between some chang who fits a water heater and the guy who installs an ATM !!!

[kimamey]

in thailand, how many time i got a small electric shock when i put my hand on a handrail, escalator, metal part,...

Back home, this never happend to me!

 

 

If it's a small shock it could be static electricity. I can only remember getting it once here in a hotel but I've had it back in the UK several times over the years and I've had it from cars when getting out and touching the doors. As someone else has said it's a good idea to touch metal work with the back of your hand first but of course that's not always possible.

 

 

I've noticed that the young girl has died after being taken off life support.

 

 

RIP

[technologybytes]

Grounding of electrical circuits is very much misunderstood by foreigners in Thailand.

 

I used to work in an electronic repair workshop in the UK, our power supply was isolated from earth for safety reasons.  The reason you cab get a shock when you touch a live wire is precisely because the supply is earthed, and current then can flow through a body and to earth. 

 

Foreigners who try and bring western ideas to Thailand can sometimes make the system more dangerous than it was before, for example foreigners who decide to install a ring main circuit in their house..  

 

I fully appreciate that if you don't understand the electrical system it's easy to get confused and assume that grounding always makes things safer.. its not always true.

 

Tragic accidents happen all the time, anywhere in the world.  I remember when a guy in the Uk got fried when he sat on a stainless public toilet.. it's not unique to Thailand.

Edited August 15, 2014 by technologybytes

[kimamey]

 

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!

 

 

I think what's needed is for incidents such as these and road deaths and injuries to be dealt with as possible criminal offences rather than civil ones. That should avoid the situation of no further action because the family can see the good they can do for the rest of the family with the money offered as opposed to a criminal conviction with less or no financial compensation which won't bring back the dead.

 

If these decisions were taken away from families then a proper investigation could take place which might eventually improve safety. There can still be compensation as there is in other countries where there has been electricity and vehicles for far longer than here.
 

Covering it up with money won't change the attitude to safety.

[Cuchulainn]

 

Tragic.

 

No amount of money will console the parents, but the bank should be sued for millions.

 

.........Siam Commercial Bank’s regional manager, Mr Prasarn Lohajarikul, said earlier e 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......

 

and what the hell does that mean?

 

Means they'll pay for the funeral, and toss a few thousand baht to the family.  Conscious is then clear.

 

 

Yeah, unfortunately, you're probably right. 

[Jim walker]

such a waste of a young life all because someone responsible  in a bank could not write Out Of Order on a piece of paper and tape it to the ATM after the initial reports of an electrical fault, my sincere condolences to the family my prayer are with you at this sad time.  

[kimamey]

Grounding of electrical circuits is very much misunderstood by foreigners in Thailand.

 

I used to work in an electronic repair workshop in the UK, our power supply was isolated from earth for safety reasons.  The reason you cab get a shock when you touch a live wire is precisely because the supply is earthed, and current then can flow through a body and to earth. 

 

Foreigners who try and bring western ideas to Thailand can sometimes make the system more dangerous than it was before, for example foreigners who decide to install a ring main circuit in their house..  

 

I fully appreciate that if you don't understand the electrical system it's easy to get confused and assume that grounding always makes things safer.. its not always true.

 

Tragic accidents happen all the time, anywhere in the world.  I remember when a guy in the Uk got fried when he sat on a stainless public toilet.. it's not unique to Thailand.

 

I'm not sure I understand you. If you touch a live wire then yes you get a shock because you become the earth so my assumption has always been that if an appliance is earthed and a conductive part of the appliance becomes live it will hopefully travel more easily to earth through that than you. If you stick you fingers on the live connection inside then it won't help obviously as you're bypassing it. It's not going to make things completely safe but I assume it helps. If not why do western nations have earth connections?

 

I don't know about ATMs but since they seem to be western designs I guess they have some sort of safety measures but maybe they've not been checked or bypassed. Whatever the cause let's hope that something is done to make tragedies like this less likely.

[Pattaya Pat]

Poor baby, You will be in my prayers. As for Siam commercial bank I will no longer be a customer I'm going in and transferring all my money to another bank.  What if other ATM's are defective at other location's? If when a customer reports getting a shock from ATM and manager doesn't at least walk outside and check it himself to see. If this is true Can I trust them to manage my money? makes you think. Think not.

 

When I first read this my immediate reaction was to snigger and think it's a huge over-reation. But on reflection, I say good for you if you are serious. If you do close your account tell them exactly why, that morally you can no longer bank with a company that are totally responsible for the death of a 2 year old girl. Maybe it will also send them a message that Westerners value human life, particuarly a young life, unlike Thai's. I hope many others to the same.

 

There is danger lurking everywhere in this country, that's not Thai bashing, it's a simple fact.

Edited August 15, 2014 by Pattaya Pat

[attrayant]

Grounding of electrical circuits is very much misunderstood by foreigners in Thailand.
 
I used to work in an electronic repair workshop in the UK, our power supply was isolated from earth for safety reasons.

Workshop power is often isolated to protect the test equipment because technicians often use "cheater cords" during troubleshooting. A cheater cord defeats the polarization safety feature of electrical plugs and can result in damage test equipment (scopes & generators) via chassis ground faults. Supply isolation affords no protection to humans. If you touch an isolated supply with one hand and something that is earth-grounded with the other, you'll still draw current and feel a shock.

And anyway, what has that got to do with municipal power grid systems in any country?
 

The reason you can get a shock when you touch a live wire is precisely because the supply is earthed, and current then can flow through a body and to earth.

It's not a complex situation. Here we have an appliance within a conductive metal enclosure. The enclosure was not earthed, and therefore was a floating chassis. All it takes is some relatively minor mishap - a loose screw, frayed wire, pinched supply cable, etc) to allow the chassis to become energized. The floating chassis becomes a hot chassis and then people die.

If the chassis were properly grounded, it wouldn't have become hot in the first place. A fuse would have blown or a circuit breaker would have tripped.
 

Foreigners who try and bring western ideas to Thailand can sometimes make the system more dangerous than it was before

Now you're starting to sound like one of those Thai electricians who claim that electricity works differently in Thailand. What dangerous ideas are you referring to? Expecting the chassis of an electrical appliance to be earth grounded is not dangerous, especially in a country where the majority of people seem to like to walk around barefoot.

[chris1101]

Whilst I do not respond to such very very unfortunate incidents, as a father of many in the UK and subsequent grandchildren my heart goes out very sincerely to the child's family.  Such a very sad loss before life had even started.  God Bless you young lady with all my sincerity XX

[Puyai]

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?

When I was a little boy I used to like pressing the buttons. I can remember mother telling me which ones to press.

It's a cash machine, you don't expect it to give you a jolt.

[utkb]

Sad, two years old - my daughters age.  

 

RIP

[Mudcrab]

why didn't the father get shocked? the two yr old wouldn't have reached the keys so dad would have been holding her, one would think?

[shaurene]

Aw, pore little soul, brought tears to my eyes. Should make that SCB pay dearly for this but they have friends in high places.. I have been with SCB for 9 yrs not any more I intend now to take my millions out. F*#** Them now. Let's all do the same they just went for the cheapest guys to fit them. I bought a run down large house in the village and had it stripped down, re wired and I personally instructed the electrician about earthing every thing.
The so called electricians are brainless in electrics. Had a shop fitted out in the house, bought couple drink fridges,2 prong plugs, I fitted earth wire from the compressor and drilled hole in the concrete screwed a long screw into the ground and earthed the fridges.

[shaurene]

in thailand, how many time i got a small electric shock when i put my hand on a handrail, escalator, metal part,...
Back home, this never happend to me!
 

 
If it's a small shock it could be static electricity. I can only remember getting it once here in a hotel but I've had it back in the UK several times over the years and I've had it from cars when getting out and touching the doors. As someone else has said it's a good idea to touch metal work with the back of your hand first but of course that's not always possible.
 
 
I've noticed that the young girl has died after being taken off life support.
 
 
RIP

No, she was clinically dead read it again.

[Artisi]

Grounding of electrical circuits is very much misunderstood by foreigners in Thailand.

 

I used to work in an electronic repair workshop in the UK, our power supply was isolated from earth for safety reasons.  The reason you cab get a shock when you touch a live wire is precisely because the supply is earthed, and current then can flow through a body and to earth. 

 

Foreigners who try and bring western ideas to Thailand can sometimes make the system more dangerous than it was before, for example foreigners who decide to install a ring main circuit in their house..  

 

I fully appreciate that if you don't understand the electrical system it's easy to get confused and assume that grounding always makes things safer.. its not always true.

 

Tragic accidents happen all the time, anywhere in the world.  I remember when a guy in the Uk got fried when he sat on a stainless public toilet.. it's not unique to Thailand.

"Grounding of electrical circuits is very much misunderstood by foreigners in Thailand."

 

Correct, you just confirmed the fact. 

[kimamey]

 

 

in thailand, how many time i got a small electric shock when i put my hand on a handrail, escalator, metal part,...
Back home, this never happend to me!
 

 
If it's a small shock it could be static electricity. I can only remember getting it once here in a hotel but I've had it back in the UK several times over the years and I've had it from cars when getting out and touching the doors. As someone else has said it's a good idea to touch metal work with the back of your hand first but of course that's not always possible.
 
 
I've noticed that the young girl has died after being taken off life support.
 
 
RIP

No, she was clinically dead read it again.

 

 

It was meant as a recognition of the fact that it had been decided that nothing could be done not as a detailed medical appraisal. However since you've taken the trouble to inform me of my apparent mistake I felt i should give it the attention it deserves.

 

No, she was clinically dead read it again.
 

Ok I've done that and I can't see anywhere that I can read she was clinically dead but I can see 'dies' and 'died'. It also mentions  'life support' which suggests to me the intention to 'support life' which wouldn't make sense if someone is dead. I think what normally happens is that a patient is kept alive by equipment that takes over some of the body's functions it can't maintain itself. Both heart and lungs are mentioned. This gives time to assess the likelihood of any recovery and in this case it seems that it was originally felt that the brain was beyond help but that test needed to be done which lead to the conclusion that the life support should be turned off. I'm fairly certain also that the death certificate wouldn't be filled out until after support had been withdrawn and the normal life signs had stopped and that would be the time recorded.

 

I would point out that in the one case where I've been present when life support was turned off it wasn't like on the TV or in films where death happens straight away but takes a long time, or at least it did in this case.

 

Now I'm not a doctor and this is just the view of n ageing poster but I was referring to a report posted on here from a journalistic organisation who should check their facts so I suggest you contact them and make them aware of their error. Don't forget to let me know how you get on with that will you. You can PM me if you wish.

 

I think it's worth saying again   RIP

[Holiday Kojak]

R.I.P. little one, so innocent and so tragic, my prayers are with you and your family.

[connda]

 

 

in thailand, how many time i got a small electric shock when i put my hand on a handrail, escalator, metal part,...
Back home, this never happend to me!
 

 
If it's a small shock it could be static electricity. I can only remember getting it once here in a hotel but I've had it back in the UK several times over the years and I've had it from cars when getting out and touching the doors. As someone else has said it's a good idea to touch metal work with the back of your hand first but of course that's not always possible.
 
 
I've noticed that the young girl has died after being taken off life support.
 
 
RIP

No, she was clinically dead read it again.

 

That's just sad.  RIP

 

[rametindallas]

 

 

"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.

 

When you have dug yourself into a hole, the first rule is: Stop digging!

Why are you so certain she knew, in advance, the machine had been leaking electricity for several days? Mightn't she have gleaned that information AFTER the injury to her child. First your insult the mother by sarcastically calling her an 'electrical expert' and then you accuse her of being a bad mother for knowing allowing her two-year-old touch an dangerous ATM. I suggest you seek psychological help as you are seriously disturbed in you thinking processes.

Make stupid assumptions, much?

[rametindallas]

why didn't the father get shocked? the two yr old wouldn't have reached the keys so dad would have been holding her, one would think?

So, you're thinking this is a case of fraud and the family wants to extort the bank?

Edited August 15, 2014 by rametindallas

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

Tragic.
 
No amount of money will console the parents, but the bank should be sued for millions.
 
.........Siam Commercial Banks regional manager, Mr Prasarn Lohajarikul, said earlier e in a statement issued to the media that the bank felt very sorry for the incident and promised to provide full support to the victims family......
 
and what the hell does that mean?

It means what it says.

[godden]

condolences to the family.

[oldsailor35]

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?

Are you really that dumb ?    Of course any 2 yr old will lean over and touch. Its all part of their natural learning.