Seven year old Swiss boy dies after being electrocuted on Samui beach

[snoop1130]

Seven year old Swiss boy dies after being electrocuted on Samui beach

SURAT THANI: -- A seven year old Swiss boy has died after being electrocuted by an exposed power cable as he played on a beach in Maenam, Koh Samui.

The boy, who had been staying on the island with his parents and younger sister, was playing in the sand when he came into contact with the buried power line.

Swiss news site 20min.ch reports the incident happened on February 14th.

Despite receiving CPR at the scene, the boy tragically died the next day in hospital. The family have since returned to Switzerland and have requested privacy.

Swiss media reports there have been a number of incidents on the island related to poorly laid power cables.

Source: 20min.ch

-- 2016-02-25

[cornishcarlos]

On the ball reporting, happened on 14th ?

Very sad indeed though, RIP

[Hammock]

horrible. RIP

[andygunther]

Sad story... Wish it could be a warning to others

RIP little boy

[lust]

How do you protect yourself from this? Could have happened to anyone... Tragic... RIP little guy..

[shirtless]

I hope there is some follow up on this , so we see no repeats of such a tragic and avoidable loss.

[sunnyjim5]

If this is true I hope the Authorities are taking urgent action to ensure the beach is safe.

The report would tend to suggest there are potentially lethal cables lying at a very shallow depth in the sand.

[steven100]

who on Samui is responsible for this ... ? local council not enforcing proper guidelines to PEA ? PEA not installing as required ?

someone must be held accountable ...... a little boys life has been taken because of someone's incompetence !!

so the incompetent one should pay.

[iReason]

Another question:

Who on Samui (Thailand) squashed this story?

This hasn't come to the surface until the Swiss media published it.

There are no Thai news source references to it.

R.I.P. little dude.

[Happy Grumpy]

I hope there is some follow up on this , so we see no repeats of such a tragic and avoidable loss.

Please, they probably billed the family the cost of the workers that kicked the sand back over it.

[pinkpanther99]

On the ball reporting, happened on 14th ?

Very sad indeed though, RIP

Likely not reported before because it is being kept out of the Thai media for the fear of negative impact on tourism.

Notice this is from a source in Switzerland, not in Thailand.

Absolutely tragic story. RIP

I trust the people or organisation responsible will never be brought to justice over this gross negligence

[steelepulse]

No one or company will be held accountable unfortunately. RIP little guy. Shame on authorities concealing this story and shame on the POS's who are responsible for this.

[lopburi3]

Take a look at the source beach photo.

http://www.20min.ch/panorama/news/story/Basler-Bub--7--stirbt-beim--Saendelen--12986831

[Jdietz]

So looks like the 'resort owner' most likely had some cheap Chinese 2-wire extension cords buried in the wet sand for these beach lamps.

What could possibly go wrong?

Edited February 25, 2016 by Jdietz

[JoeLing]

On the ball reporting, happened on 14th ?

Very sad indeed though, RIP

Likely not reported before because it is being kept out of the Thai media for the fear of negative impact on tourism.

Notice this is from a source in Switzerland, not in Thailand.

Absolutely tragic story. RIP

I trust the people or organisation responsible will never be brought to justice over this gross negligence

Sorry to say but actually, the source seams to be in Thailand.

On the bottom of the 20min article they say, the source is farang.com

a German forum for ex-pats in Thailand.

Edited February 25, 2016 by JoeLing

[ChrisY1]

Another question:

Who on Samui (Thailand) squashed this story?

This hasn't come to the surface until the Swiss media published it.

There are no Thai news source references to it.

R.I.P. little dude.

My guess would be TAT......

[JHolmesJr]

Criminal.

[balo]

Here we go again , not the first time tourists gets electrocuted and it will not be the last time. Remember the kid in the shower some time ago (no earth connection) ? Or the young guy that was electrocuted when he was walking in a flooded soi? Or the kid electrocuted in the swimming pool ?

This is only a few incidents reported in the news the last 2 years. Parents should just protect their kids at all time here.

Nothing will happen. TIT.

Edited February 25, 2016 by balo

[Maestro]

On the ball reporting, happened on 14th ?

Very sad indeed though, RIP

Likely not reported before because it is being kept out of the Thai media for the fear of negative impact on tourism.

Notice this is from a source in Switzerland, not in Thailand.

Absolutely tragic story. RIP

I trust the people or organisation responsible will never be brought to justice over this gross negligence

Sorry to say but actually, the source seams to be in Thailand.

On the bottom of the 20min article they say, the source is farang.com

a German forum for ex-pats in Thailand.

The article in farang.com is dated 25 February, no time given.

In the Swiss online paper, the article was first published on 25 February 00:56 h Thailand time and updated at 04:41 h

Who was first? Did the Swiss website have the link to farang.com already with the first publication shortly after midnight or did the Thai source become available later and the Swiss site made the update based on it? Is farang.com known for quoting the sources from which they take the information for their articles?

[Maestro]

Did this happen at the Maenam Resort Hotel?

[masuk]

The Australian Dept of Foreign Affairs have just issued a multi-page 'Advice for travellers to Thailand'

This covers some of the many, many problems in this country, ranging from terrorism in the south, drink spiking, jet skis, overstaying, muggings on the beaches where an Australian travel agent was murdered, a double murder on Koh Samui, below-standard safety railings. Little mention was made about the rather strange driving habits and poor driver training.

Sadly, they seem to have missed electrical safety, or lack of it, unearthed electrical systems nation-wide, and now we have cables buried on a beach and a child has been killed.

Little wonder the news was suppressed.

As the country seems to rely heavily on tourism and attracting us farangs to come here, it's about time they started looking at protecting its tourists and population in general.

[moose7117]

it was a burmese electrician !

[canathai8]

Thailand - home of live spaghetti-wire - hanging inches from your nose, and jutting out from most places - just waiting and dying to be touched

And home to substandard (hot water in the shower) electrical grounding

It's rampant - a gross understatement

[canathai8]

The Australian Dept of Foreign Affairs have just issued a multi-page 'Advice for travellers to Thailand'

This covers some of the many, many problems in this country, ranging from terrorism in the south, drink spiking, jet skis, overstaying, muggings on the beaches where an Australian travel agent was murdered, a double murder on Koh Samui, below-standard safety railings. Little mention was made about the rather strange driving habits and poor driver training.

Sadly, they seem to have missed electrical safety, or lack of it, unearthed electrical systems nation-wide, and now we have cables buried on a beach and a child has been killed.

Little wonder the news was suppressed.

As the country seems to rely heavily on tourism and attracting us farangs to come here, it's about time they started looking at protecting its tourists and population in general.

With all due respect - Why should they do sweet fanny anny? They do nothing, NADA - and tourist numbers keep going up, up from 25 million when the military took over on My 22, 2014 - to 30 million in 2015 - to a projected 33 million in 2016

Sitting on their hands is working just fine, thank you, because it's all about the financial bottom line$$$

[jerojero]

RIP little one. And who the H. lays ungrounded electrical wires in shallow beach sand? Un-F**king-believable! Electrical safety is so pathetic here. THIS is what the government should be addressing, not the dozens of BS issues to make headlines.

[oldsailor35]

Did this happen at the Maenam Resort Hotel?

Does'nt look like Maenam Resort to me !

[NCC1701A]

RIP young Swiss boy.

more Thai stupidity. clueless about electricity.

i wish there was someway to warn everyone.

living in Thailand is like being parked on the side of the road near a patch of black ice.

each new car that comes around the curve goes off the road and off the cliff and you can't warn them.

Edited February 25, 2016 by NCC1701A

[oldsailor35]

The very first pic is probably taken from the old Madam Jeed Restaurant at Bang Por . I sit and read there often and reconise the steps down to the beach from a recently renovated Russian owned beach bungalow property.

[kmj]

I noticed this, a few days ago a kitten being squashed around thd neck got into the important national Thailand news thread on TV, but a young man being killed by Thai incompetence only gets a local samui listing...

Edited February 25, 2016 by kmj

[aussiandrew]

Sorry to say you just can't take anything for granted specially your children's safe in another country. The beach setting looks lovely with the tables set down near the water line. However the picture does clearly show the lighting set up and unfortunately nobody thought for moment power lines and moisture it could only be a matter of time that available tragedy would happen. RIP little man.