Truck topples 47 power poles

[timendres]

zaphob reborn. post # 7

The company that employed the truck driver. The negligent party, and their employer, when the employee is acting within the course and scope of their employment, is always responsible for the damage. Insurance only allows them to shift some of the risk of loss to another party. It's possible the company has an umbrella insurance policy that would provide excess coverage. Policies with US$1 million limits are not uncommon.

Certainly fine rhetoric, but remember this is Thailand and the rules do tend to be somewhat flexible and open to umpteen variations upon the theme.

We had a tree fall here, taking down the poles and lines along the Soi. 3,000,000 baht damage. Because the tree was on SCB's lot, they had to pay, even though it was caused by a storm. The next week, several beautiful trees were chopped down by landlords who heard of SCB's misfortune. Flexible? Doubt it. The government / utility companies will not bend one bit. Of course, each car that was damaged will be covered by their own insurance, who will in turn attempt to recover from the truck company. Going to be a lot of claims being thrown about here.

[timendres]

Who pays for this when most insurance is caped at 10 mil Baht? More than 10m baht damage there.

Thai tv this morning said 30 million baht.

I wonder if the truck owners have any insurance at all,I think the company owner was choking on his rice this morning,one big bill.

A cast concrete power pole costs around 2,000bht.

SO 100,000bht for the poles, and 29,900,000bht for the electric co. slush fund.

I am sure they are counting the damage to all of those unfortunate cars involved. That is serious money. Add in the other materials (lines, couplings, transformers, etc.) and the labor involved, and it is a serious bill.

[timendres]

Did they notify the Polish embassy?

This seems to be a veiled jibe at the Polish. It deserves to be put away with all the other tasteless and bigoted remarks one often finds in the gutter.

My father-in-law is Polish, and none of these remarks would even phase him. In fact, he would be tossing in a few "pole puns" himself. I have never met a Polish person who is so sensitive as to be moved in the least by these (clearly not bigoted) remarks. Contrary to the stereotypical "polock" jokes, Polish people tend to be quite intelligent, and certainly confident enough to roll with these remarks.

[marquis22]

I am only waiting for the Thai Apologists to say :

"This happen in other countries too, not only Thailand" ...

Well, can just reply to that : "It only happen in Thailand" ... 47 poles in 22 Wheel truck - what a drunken fool ha-ha-ha ...

BTW did the driver do a runner as usual ... ?

Yes, according to post 52

[kannot]

No doubt the government will pylon the pressure to get these fixed quickly

Once they get over the initial shock.

I doubt they will be falling over themselves to sort this out.

[kannot]

I am only waiting for the Thai Apologists to say :

"This happen in other countries too, not only Thailand" ...

Well, can just reply to that : "It only happen in Thailand" ... 47 poles in 22 Wheel truck - what a drunken fool ha-ha-ha ...

BTW did the driver do a runner as usual ... ?

Yes, according to post 52

wasnt it post 47?

[jacko45k]

If one pole was damaged you would expect the 2 on either side to be able to handle the load, looks like someone did the job on the cheap.

My house is at the end of the line wrt concrete power poles and a few years back the penultimate one was replaced and during the work my pole had to take the weight of the cables. It has bent about 0.5 metre off vertical, but no apparent crack in the concrete. When True came to install new cables and a guy shimmied up to the top I couldn't bear to watch as I expected similar result to this episode. Still standing..... 3BB came too.

[captspectre]

Who pays for this when most insurance is caped at 10 mil Baht? More than 10m baht damage there.

only in Thailand could ONE TRUCK bring down 47 power poles! it is amazing! the poles must have been put up with clay!

[Beng]

Those power poles are always looking bit of dodgy.

[Gumballl]

We had a similar thing happen in Chiang Mai 3 years ago due to high winds. Once the poles started falling the others followed. Here's a couple of pics of the "deconstructed" power poles. The rebar is not the same quality we use here in the US.

Indeed it does look different, as if the rebar in Thailand is made of aluminum, and not steel.

Nevertheless, stuff happens in the US as well when strong winds are blowin'...

Edited August 3, 2015 by Gumballl

[Gumballl]

No way that should have happened. The structures must have been grossly over loaded. And there was zero engineering. Hard to believe ...

Even in (developed) western countries, concrete poles alongside the roadway are not buried into the ground. The are set atop a platform base, from which the actual pole is bolted down onto. The base of course, is buried deep into the ground.

If a vehicle should strike the pole, it will not fully stop the vehicle, thus minimizing injury to the vehicle passenger(s), and the vehicle itself. The bolts holding the pole erect are specifically designed to break (at a certain force), so as to minimize the impact of any collision. As the pole falls, it may pull with it the cables between it and the next pole.

The tensile strength of the cable, and the fastener that binds it to the pole (and the next pole), determine whether the next pole will stand erect or also fall.

In life, dudu happens... in this accident, the cables could have broken away, but they did not; perhaps by intelligent design. Hence why all of the poles came down.

If the cables were power cables, then perhaps it was for the best that the cables did not snap and cause other damage (such as an electrical fire or an electrocution).

Amerasianex,, I do believe that you are referring to the US as a (developed) western country,, hahaha, don't make me laugh. In developed western countries like Europe we don't have this kind of power supply installation, so please give me a break.

You forget your history; Europe was crapped on by the Germans during WWII. What was left of most of western Europe was in ruin. Without the US financial assistance in the rebuilding process, your streets would probably still be lit with candlesticks.

Here's some guidelines that are mandated by the US's Federal Highway Administration (FHA) when it comes to the installation of roadside lighting, electrical poles, etc.

I know the wording may be a little complicated for you to understand, so feel free to just look at the pictures.

[waighty]

Some one has posted that the poles were not concreted in. DO you really think that would have stopped this. I cannot believe the crap that some Thai knockers come out with to get their daily dose of venom.

[Guest]

No way that should have happened. The structures must have been grossly over loaded. And there was zero engineering. Hard to believe ...

Even in (developed) western countries, concrete poles alongside the roadway are not buried into the ground. The are set atop a platform base, from which the actual pole is bolted down onto. The base of course, is buried deep into the ground.

If a vehicle should strike the pole, it will not fully stop the vehicle, thus minimizing injury to the vehicle passenger(s), and the vehicle itself. The bolts holding the pole erect are specifically designed to break (at a certain force), so as to minimize the impact of any collision. As the pole falls, it may pull with it the cables between it and the next pole.

The tensile strength of the cable, and the fastener that binds it to the pole (and the next pole), determine whether the next pole will stand erect or also fall.

In life, dudu happens... in this accident, the cables could have broken away, but they did not; perhaps by intelligent design. Hence why all of the poles came down.

If the cables were power cables, then perhaps it was for the best that the cables did not snap and cause other damage (such as an electrical fire or an electrocution).

Amerasianex,, I do believe that you are referring to the US as a (developed) western country,, hahaha, don't make me laugh. In developed western countries like Europe we don't have this kind of power supply installation, so please give me a break.

You forget your history; Europe was crapped on by the Germans during WWII. What was left of most of western Europe was in ruin. Without the US financial assistance in the rebuilding process, your streets would probably still be lit with candlesticks.

Here's some guidelines that are mandated by the US's Federal Highway Administration (FHA) when it comes to the installation of roadside lighting, electrical poles, etc.

I know the wording may be a little complicated for you to understand, so feel free to just look at the pictures.

I beleive the factor that contributes to the efficacy of underground has two moving parts.

(1) The size of the country

(2) The population density.

in a relatively small country with high population density the number of customers served per kilometer determines the efficiency and profitability per kilometer.

Now, some will rush out an point to the fact that Thailand is listed as a "medium" densely populated country.

that is not at all true. It is unusual because it has one major city, with 12,000,000 + people in it.

Even if they wanted to go underground .. I do not think the Bangkok Clay and super saturated land would allow for it.

Lastly, even if you could wave a magic wand and install underground services ...

What should they do, tell 12,000,000 people, "Sorry, we do not repair or improve the power grid during the monsoon season." ???

So folks, can we please stop comparing post war industrialized northern Europe to the Equator?

[thaiguzzi]

I foresee a run on lottery-tickets with the numbers 22 (wheels) and 37 (passing vehicles) and 47 (power poles) in the near future !

Thanx. Sorted. Done.

[kiwikeith]

Who pays for this when most insurance is caped at 10 mil Baht? More than 10m baht damage there.

The company that employed the truck driver. The negligent party, and their employer, when the employee is acting within the course and scope of their employment, is always responsible for the damage. Insurance only allows them to shift some of the risk of loss to another party. It's possible the company has an umbrella insurance policy that would provide excess coverage. Policies with US$1 million limits are not uncommon.

I hope the poor sole was not tired and fell asleep, and he had not been drinking.

Very fortunate no one killed.

[northernphil]

Did they notify the Polish embassy?

This seems to be a veiled jibe at the Polish. It deserves to be put away with all the other tasteless and bigoted remarks one often finds in the gutter.

It's a pun, mate. Calm down.

I suggest you apolegise immediately.

Yes that would be the poleite thing to do.

[sammygood]

shit happens when the cables connecting the poles are stronger than the concrete base their are swimming in