Probe into Phuket bungee-jump death ordered

[webfact]

ACCIDENT
Probe into bungee-jump death ordered
The Nation



PHUKET: -- Phuket Governor Nisit Chansomwong yesterday ordered an investigation into the death of a 25-year-old Kuwaiti national, who died while doing a bungee jump in the island's Patong Beach area on Wednesday evening, and checks on the safety standards employed in the sport there.

Initial investigation indicated that the link between the bungee cord and the cuffs around the tourist's ankles broke apart during the 6pm jump, causing the tourist to land on his head, breaking his neck and several ribs, Kathu police superintendent Pol Colonel Chaiwat Ouikham said. The tourist was immediately taken to Patong Hospital, but was pronounced dead later.

No charges have been filed against anybody yet because police are still investigating the case and awaiting witness testimony and expert tests on the equipment, Chaiwat said. Police are also checking to see if the incident should be deemed an accident or recklessness causing death, he added.

The operator of the service has apologised for the incident and offered to take full responsibility. The service has been temporarily closed.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Probe-into-bungee-jump-death-ordered-30261154.html

-- The Nation 2015-05-29

[HeijoshinCool]

Lots of people on TV post how great it is not to have to live in a nanny state ….

Beats dying.

No charges have been filed against anybody yet because police are still investigating the case and awaiting witness testimony and expert tests on the equipment, Chaiwat said.

TRANSLATION: We are awaiting the owner's withdrawing funds in the amount we have specified ...

The operator of the service has apologised for the incident and offered to take full responsibility.

TRANSLATION: I am negotiating with the police ...

[Tatsujin]

Wasn't there another bungee death not that long ago, again with promises to look into, clean up and regulate that "activity"?

[Borzandy]

Suicide??? Many farang come to Thailand to commit suicide...

[JoePai]

Is he pointing to the spot where the poor sod hit or just pointing out the grass needs cutting ?

[oldsailor35]

If i allowed someone to tie my ankles and then assist me to jump from about 120 ft , and survived. i would expect to then be put into a lunatic asylum........................Bloody idiots !

[condobrit001]

Suicide??? Many farang come to Thailand to commit suicide...

Read and learn! This hapless fellow was an Arab from Kuwait, and not a farang.

[LivinginKata]

Wasn't there another bungee death not that long ago, again with promises to look into, clean up and regulate that "activity"?

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Two-dead-Phuket-bungy-jumping-accident/29187

[Sviss Geez]

Suicide??? Many farang come to Thailand to commit suicide...

Read and learn! This hapless fellow was an Arab from Kuwait, and not a farang.

Cue the pointless 'what is the definition of a farang' debate.

[Longstaff]

Unfortunately this activity (its not a sport), and many other in the adventure tourism field, tends to attracts cowboys. In some countries some of these cowboys have tidied their act up. In New Zealand, where it all started, this sector of adventure tourism is regulated HOWEVER attaching a human being to a length of elastic and throwing them off a platform / bridge / helicopter or whatever is not part of the curriculum at Engineering School. This makes meaningful regulation and identification of expertise difficult. As a consequence most regulations focus on generic operational procedures rather than the technical specifics around the gear used. On this matter 'regulation' tends to be by general industry consensus (the nature of the cord, method of attachment to the ankles, service life of the cord etc). The problem is that this is a very minor activity with a very few operators globally compared to things like diving or whitewater rafting. Because it is small, bungy jumping does not normally have recognised national qualifications for the operator or an international regulatory / standards setting body within the industry (whereas diving and whitewater rafting have well established industry bodies and qualifications systems that are internationally recognised). The UK has a national activity association that has established standards there, and in New Zealand standards have been agreed and documented in a code of practice by Standards NZ since 1990.

The principal hazard in activities like this is human error; equipment failure is rare. This is because the operator must perform a sequence of repetitive tasks each of which is vital to survival of the participant. The repetitive nature of this, long hours of work in the blazing sun, and all too often cavalier young blokes at the business end of things, is a recipe for mishap. Quality operators recognise this, have a minimum of two people at the focal point checking each others work, select and train staff carefully, and have a camera filming the whole thing so that staff are constantly monitored and recorded for safety improvement purposes.

In this instance safety would best be served by bringing in an external expert from New Zealand.

If actual gear failure occurred, it is still probably because of human error due to misuse, overuse, lack of maintenance, or the wrong piece of gear for the job.

[bheard]

If i allowed someone to tie my ankles and then assist me to jump from about 120 ft , and survived. i would expect to then be put into a lunatic asylum........................Bloody idiots !

ABSOLUTELY !!!

[Nobb]

500 baht fine!

[deckape]

police are still investigating the case and awaiting witness testimony and expert tests on the equipment,

Will they outsource the 'expert tests' to another country?

[dragonfly94]

surely a 'probe' should be normal and not have to be 'ordered'

[NamKangMan]

Is he pointing to the spot where the poor sod hit or just pointing out the grass needs cutting ?

He's pointing to where they are going to bury the results of the "probe."

[Reigntax]

Temporarily closed despite having no approval to operate, no insurance, no safety proceedures and obviously incompetent staff operating it.

So it could be reopened soon with the same faults.

[sawadee1947]

No end in sight!! Bungee, bus driber under Meth, Bus with rotten brakes, sleeping truck drivers, drunk motor bike drivers....LOS !! Thainess

[NamKangMan]

Temporarily closed despite having no approval to operate, no insurance, no safety proceedures and obviously incompetent staff operating it.

So it could be reopened soon with the same faults.

"Temporarily closed despite having no approval to operate, no insurance, no safety proceedures and obviously incompetent staff operating it." - and all for a small monthly "tea money" payment.

Standard operating procedure for most businesses in Thailand.

[masquerade]

"deemed an accident" What a pitiful moronic statement, but the BIB no doubt are serious. I posted it before and I will post it again, it is either murder or manslaughter end of story.