Chiang Mai Loy Krathong.

[marshbags]

Thought you might like to view the following from the B.Post which was not to be reported on ?

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=114052

17 people blinded during Loy Kratong

Seventeen people in Chiang Mai were blinded after they were accidentally injured from exploding fireworks during the Loy Kratong festival.

According to Theerawut Komutrabutr, head of an emergency medical centre in Chiang Mai, the numbers of villagers hurt from fireworks was reduced to 142 from 172 last year.

Of 40 people admitted to the Nakhon Ping hospital, 17 people lost their sight while 18 people badly hurt their hands that they became handicapped.

Of all, five were young novice.

Unquote

Apologies if i have missed it skipping through the other forums.

Ths is all that is in the article so perhaps someone can provide us with further information please.

marshbags

[ThaiPauly]

Thats probably more people in Chiang Mai alone than the number of people in the UK put together on November 5th!

When will they learn that fireworks are dangerous..I have never seen anyone just light one whilst in their hand back home..but here its just the done thing

Crazy...what a waste of some good futures,,,but what can you do.??..I just stay as far away from these loonies as possible at this time of year

[marshbags]

Thats probably more people in Chiang Mai alone than the number of people in the UK put together on November 5th!

When will they learn that fireworks are dangerous..I have never seen anyone just light one whilst in their hand back home..but here its just the done thing

Crazy...what a waste of some good futures,,,but what can you do.??..I just stay as far away from these loonies as possible at this time of year

I was hit on my leg by a chunk off one of those big ball bombs in Soi 8 / Pattaya a while back.

A bit of a hole was made by it that took days to heal up.

It,s not hard to imagine what it could have done to my face had i been sat down.

More important is what it could have done to any children who were in the area.

Without wanting to be an boring old fart i reckon they should ban them and save all the carnage that happens.

The blokes who were setting them off by the way couldn,t comprehend the dangers of their actions and because they could actually buy them it was o.k." not a problem "

I thought fireworks had been banned yet again this year by the way.

To echo the famous quote " T.I.T." applies in this particular case.

marshbags

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Thought you might like to view the following from the B.Post which was not to be reported on ?

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=114052

17 people blinded during Loy Kratong

Seventeen people in Chiang Mai were blinded after they were accidentally injured from exploding fireworks during the Loy Kratong festival.

According to Theerawut Komutrabutr, head of an emergency medical centre in Chiang Mai, the numbers of villagers hurt from fireworks was reduced to 142 from 172 last year.

Of 40 people admitted to the Nakhon Ping hospital, 17 people lost their sight while 18 people badly hurt their hands that they became handicapped.

Of all, five were young novice.

Unquote

Apologies if i have missed it skipping through the other forums.

Ths is all that is in the article so perhaps someone can provide us with further information please.

marshbags

I'd be more interested in seeing hospitals that are in the middle of Chiang Mai, isn't Nakorn Ping in Amphoe Mae Rim?

Can't imagine it would be the place to take someone injured ar Nawarat Bridge...

[chanchao]

For the record, I completely avoid the in town riverfront area.

Did find a GREAT place to float our krathongs, first time for the 1 year old. Very safe even for her.

You can find nice tranquil places around the smaller streams all over Chiang Mai and surrounds. So this is one festival where it's actually MORE enjoyable to be in the boonies.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[Physherman]

Thats probably more people in Chiang Mai alone than the number of people in the UK put together on November 5th!

When will they learn that fireworks are dangerous..I have never seen anyone just light one whilst in their hand back home..but here its just the done thing

Crazy...what a waste of some good futures,,,but what can you do.??..I just stay as far away from these loonies as possible at this time of year

Many of the firecrackers that are sold here don't have fuses that can be lit with a match. You have to scrape them across a striker like those found on match boxes. Of course this means that you MUST hold it in your hand while you ignite it, inviting even more injury.

Fortunately, as in driving, this sort of stupidity can by self limiting if reached early enough. The gene pool will eventually clean itself.

The Fly Fisherman

[KhunLing]

I don't understand the attitude of Thai's...it's insane.

My wife has an IQ of 140 +...a seriously smart woman.

Yet there we were walking down our soi and there was kids lighting crackers in GLASS BOTTLES...and even she was "mai pen rai", while I was saying "<deleted>...these were banned in Australia because so many kids lost their sight."

Laid back...relaxed...it's all part of the appeal here.

Yet it's the same reason so much crap happens...so many accidents...so many drunk drivers...so many needless deaths...

Karma and mai pen rai...

I still haven't worked out if it's all good or bad.

[Rasseru]

I still haven't worked out if it's all good or bad.

Well while you are working on it, you might want to consider the possibility that it is all both.

[Blinky Bill]

I don't understand the attitude of Thai's...it's insane.

My wife has an IQ of 140 +...a seriously smart woman.

Yet there we were walking down our soi and there was kids lighting crackers in GLASS BOTTLES...and even she was "mai pen rai", while I was saying "<deleted>...these were banned in Australia because so many kids lost their sight."

Laid back...relaxed...it's all part of the appeal here.

Yet it's the same reason so much crap happens...so many accidents...so many drunk drivers...so many needless deaths...

Karma and mai pen rai...

I still haven't worked out if it's all good or bad.

So what's she doing with an Australian, assuming you are an Australian?

[KhunLing]

LOL

She's Thai and Australian...i.e. both. Lived there for a number of years.

She's even got an Aussie sense of humour

Nothing overcomes the 'Thai logic' though

[minty]

Chiangmai was nuts during Loy Kratong, no regard for the little kids I was guiding through the "festivities". But here in the country it was lovely.

I just have to accept that the Thais do not have the same standards of safety concerning children and others. Last week our driver slammed into a young woman on a motorscooter-he was mumbling "mai pen rai" before she took the last bounce. He drives our hilltribe kids here and there--I said he's going to kill someone someday. Laughs all around.

[Physherman]

I don't understand the attitude of Thai's...it's insane.

My wife has an IQ of 140 +...a seriously smart woman.

Yet there we were walking down our soi and there was kids lighting crackers in GLASS BOTTLES...and even she was "mai pen rai", while I was saying "<deleted>...these were banned in Australia because so many kids lost their sight."

Laid back...relaxed...it's all part of the appeal here.

Yet it's the same reason so much crap happens...so many accidents...so many drunk drivers...so many needless deaths...

Karma and mai pen rai...

I still haven't worked out if it's all good or bad.

Perhaps neither. It's just Thai. It's not our place to change their cultural attitudes. It is, however, our place to insist upon Thai laws being followed, although insisting won't get it done either. TIT

The Fly Fisherman

[KhunLing]

Agree totally re it's not our place to criticise or try and change things...

It's awkward though. You walk down the soi and there's a kid putting crackers into a glass bottle while everyone around laughs.

Mai pen rai...

[Pond Life]

Farangs do dumb stuff to, this from the BBC.

Backside firework prank backfires

A man suffered internal burns when he tried to launch a rocket from his bottom on Bonfire Night.

Paramedics found the 22-year-old bleeding and with Black Cat Thunderbolt Rocket lodged inside him when they attended the scene in Sunderland.

He suffered a scorched colon and is now recovering in hospital, where his condition is described as stable.

A spokesman for the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) said the prank could have been fatal.

Douglas McDougal, from the NEAS, said: "We received a call stating there was a male who had a firework in his bottom and it was bleeding.

"He sustained fairly significant injuries in the fact that there's huge damage to that particular area."

'Beyond belief'

Mr McDougal added: "Potentially it could have been a fatal incident.

"There's a lot of major blood vessels round that area, so infection would probably be a huge problem for him.

"And also the body naturally produces methane gas, so combine that with the firework and the exploding effect with methane's flammability - it certainly could have been a lot worse than it really was."

A spokesman for the Firework Association described the bizarre prank as "beyond belief".

He said: "We have spent a long time working with the Government to create laws that make fireworks safer and better for the public.

"This incident is very concerning but hopefully an isolated one."

Northumbria Police said they were aware of the incident, which happened in the Dame Dorothy Street area of Monkwearmouth, but are understood not to be carrying out further inquiries.