Power leak from neon sign blamed for baby girl's death in Trang

[webfact]

Power leak from neon sign blamed for baby girl's death
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- Electric shocks that killed a two-year-old girl in Trang's Yan Ta Khao district on August 7 stemmed from a power leakage from a neon sign placed over an automated teller machine, police said yesterday.

Citing an electrical engineer's report, Pol Major Saroj Chongrak of Yan Ta Khao police said the ATM was linked to a nearby gas station's power system. After all signs there were turned on, a power leakage from the sign short-circuited on the metal machine and shocked the girl when she touched it.

Police have interviewed seven witnesses, including some who suffered electric shocks on the previous night, and will soon summon the gas station owner for information.

No charges have yet been laid and Saroj said the case would take another one or two weeks to conclude.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Power-leak-from-neon-sign-blamed-for-baby-girls-de-30241924.html


-- The Nation 2014-08-28

[Crossy]

If the machine was properly grounded? Engineer's report? Oh why bother, same same same

Have they fixed the 'leak'??

[NeverSure]

What the heck is an electrical leak?

I'm sticking to my story that the ATM couldn't have been grounded. If it was, then nothing about signs or lights or anything would apply in the death of that child. They could have a lot of things wrong with them but the little girl touched the ATM.

How big of a brown envelope does it take to get this version out to the public?

[thesetat2013]

If there were people who got shocked the day before and it was reported then the owner is responsible for the death of the girl. Lack of maintenance and lack of action based on their own negligence. Typical though here. Sad saying it especially since this is not the first time it has happened here. Prayers for the child and her family..

[Bung]

An electrical leak on a ungrounded machine will take the easiest path to earth when energised. Like a little girl touching it.

It would be a shame if they did not use this incident to highlight the importance of grounding electrical installations properly and educate the public better.

[wxpwzrd]

An electrical leak on a ungrounded machine will take the easiest path to earth when energised. Like a little girl touching it.

It would be a shame if they did not use this incident to highlight the importance of grounding electrical installations properly and educate the public better.

They won't.

[NongKhaiKid]

A former neighbour of mine bought a house in a new development in Pattaya and monitored what the contractors were up to very carefully.

On one visit he asked if the house was properly grounded and was shown a copper wire which had only been stuck in the ground and when he pulled out it came.

[NeverSure]

An electrical leak on a ungrounded machine will take the easiest path to earth when energised. Like a little girl touching it.

It would be a shame if they did not use this incident to highlight the importance of grounding electrical installations properly and educate the public better.

Ah, we would call that a ground fault I believe. Current that wants to travel somewhere but has no ground for it.

We have GFCI's (ground fault circuit interrupters) that easily trip anytime there's a ground fault. They are installed in all kitchen, bathroom and garage outlets - anywhere there might be a wet floor. So if you touched something hot that wasn't grounded, the GFCI would instantly trip before you even felt a shock. Of course anything electrical is also carefully grounded including all buildings, signs, plugs, lights, etc.

[Crazy chef 1]

An electrical leak on a ungrounded machine will take the easiest path to earth when energised. Like a little girl touching it.

It would be a shame if they did not use this incident to highlight the importance of grounding electrical installations properly and educate the public better.

it seems you have no clue-Thai electricity work different(no need grounding)

[ChrisY1]

If the machine was properly grounded? Engineer's report? Oh why bother, same same same

Have they fixed the 'leak'??

They don't understand very well here in Thailand, what earthing is

[ratcatcher]

If the machine was properly grounded? Engineer's report? Oh why bother, same same same

Have they fixed the 'leak'??

They don't understand very well here in Thailand, what earthing is

Sure they do....................

[seajae]

power leak, the thai way of saying crappy workmanship by unlicensed idiots that have left exposed wiring, pathetic

[LotusBoy]

As usual, a lot of TV members are electricians.

RIP Little One...........

[ataloss]

It happens elsewhere. In Canada I recall incidents of dogs being electrocuted when being walked by their owners. The poor dogs, on wet sidewalks, meandered on to improperly grounded metal access plates for street lighting/ signs. Why these were not molded plastic or whatever is questioned.

[worgeordie]

So the blame is been shifted from the Bank to a gas station,

in Thailand ,2 wires good, 3 wires bad, because they cannot

see electricity they just don't respect it,the sparky that installed

either the sign or the ATM machine needs to be charged with

manslaughter.

The Govt. is really taking drink and drugs issues very seriously,

passing laws where you cannot even put a drinks logo on a glass,

they need to release there are other very important issues,like

the electric one,how many people will be killed by,taped up wires

lying on the ground this raining season.just 1 example.

regards worgeordie

[96tehtarp]

This is a very sad story.

[Basil B]

An electrical leak on a ungrounded machine will take the easiest path to earth when energised. Like a little girl touching it.

It would be a shame if they did not use this incident to highlight the importance of grounding electrical installations properly and educate the public better.

This is an opportunity for Thailand to rethink it's electrical systems reg's and include mandatory earthing for new installations and retrospectively for pre existing installations.

[soalbundy]

found the cause, so it's alright now,forget it, nothing to see here.

[thesetat2013]

An electrical leak on a ungrounded machine will take the easiest path to earth when energised. Like a little girl touching it.

It would be a shame if they did not use this incident to highlight the importance of grounding electrical installations properly and educate the public better.

Ah, we would call that a ground fault I believe. Current that wants to travel somewhere but has no ground for it.

We have GFCI's (ground fault circuit interrupters) that easily trip anytime there's a ground fault. They are installed in all kitchen, bathroom and garage outlets - anywhere there might be a wet floor. So if you touched something hot that wasn't grounded, the GFCI would instantly trip before you even felt a shock. Of course anything electrical is also carefully grounded including all buildings, signs, plugs, lights, etc.

You must be livin in lala land! Not thailand

Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Artisi]

As usual, a lot of TV members are electricians.

RIP Little One...........

Many are and many others well understand basic electrics - sufficient to make reasonably informed comments.

[tingtongfarang]

Have lived in four houses here in bkk so far, non of them had the electrical system grounded, even one was a quite a new build with 3 pin sockets but no earth cable anywhere in the house.

[USNret]

Earth or ground seems to be viewed by Thai "electricians" as some kind of Western superstition. Much like pouring proper foundations or sizing drain pipes properly. "Voodoo farang engineering"

[rametindallas]

Now that we know the death was caused by a neon sign, will the police bring the sign in for a photo op with the police pointing fingers at it. Will the have the sign re-enact the crime. I suppose the family will have only the sign to file a lawsuit against. I'm concerned that if they let the sign out on bail it will become a repeat offender.

[rametindallas]

An electrical leak on a ungrounded machine will take the easiest path to earth when energised. Like a little girl touching it.

It would be a shame if they did not use this incident to highlight the importance of grounding electrical installations properly and educate the public better.

This is an opportunity for Thailand to rethink it's electrical systems reg's and include mandatory earthing for new installations and retrospectively for pre existing installations.

You mean like the way they completely overhauled the building codes after the Santika fire? /sarcasm

[sandrabbit]

An electrical leak on a ungrounded machine will take the easiest path to earth when energised. Like a little girl touching it.

It would be a shame if they did not use this incident to highlight the importance of grounding electrical installations properly and educate the public better.

This is an opportunity for Thailand to rethink it's electrical systems reg's and include mandatory earthing for new installations and retrospectively for pre existing installations.

my understanding is that there are regulations and according to Crossy's excellent website it is mandatory. I'm having a house built and I thought they had wired my distribution board wrong until I went on Crossy's website. the incoming neutral cable is connected to the earth busbar on the dist board (which is also grounded through an earth spike) then connected to the neutral side of the incoming circuit breaker which is not how it is done in the UK. I have more than 30 yrs experience in the electrical maintenance industries including at one time having an 11KV card but Thailand's wiring system confused me until I saw his website, link below.

http://www.crossy.co.uk/wiring/

I presumed the neutral is grounded as the supply cables are overhead with the danger of lightning strikes and the neutral is the cable most likely to be struck as it's at the top.

[klauskunkel]

Power leak from neon sign blamed for baby girl's death in Trang

They found the culprit. Let's take that nefarious neon sign out back and shoot it!

[draftvader]

If the machine was properly grounded? Engineer's report? Oh why bother, same same same

Have they fixed the 'leak'??

They don't understand very well here in Thailand, what earthing is

Sure they do....................ear.jpg

Sorry, has that thing got the right visa?

[draftvader]

It is so sad. None of this is bringing back the little girl. All she did was touch something. Kids do that....its how they discover their world. Sadly the pay-out will never be enough to ensure that the banks make the correct circuitry mandatory and enforced. Whack them with a multi-billion THB pay-out and they'll suddenly inspect every single ATM in the land (and potentially a couple outside for good measure).

[joshstiles]

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A former neighbour of mine bought a house in a new development in Pattaya and monitored what the contractors were up to very carefully.

On one visit he asked if the house was properly grounded and was shown a copper wire which had only been stuck in the ground and when he pulled out it came.

..............that's it? Where is the rest of the story? What happened next?

[NongKhaiKid]

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

A former neighbour of mine bought a house in a new development in Pattaya and monitored what the contractors were up to very carefully.

On one visit he asked if the house was properly grounded and was shown a copper wire which had only been stuck in the ground and when he pulled out it came.

..............that's it? Where is the rest of the story? What happened next?

The power wasn't on so no problem for him and the contractor didn't give a monkey's as he couldn't see what was wrong.

If you can wait the movie is due to premier soon.