SURVEY: Are safety standards in Thailand progressing satisfactorily?

[Scott]

In your opinion do you believe that overall safety standards are progressing satisfactorily in Thailand.

In the past few weeks there have been a number of tragic accidents, including the fire that killed 17 school girls and the collapse of a guest house in Koh Chang. In previous years there have been some major tragedies due to poor safety standards and enforcement. Do you believe that safety standards are progressing adequately?

Feel free to leave a comment.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/922508-one-dead-many-injured-after-koh-chang-guest-house-collapses/?utm_source=newsletter-20160604-1247&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/919379-17-schoolgirls-dead-in-fire-at-boarding-school-in-chiang-rai/

[lostinisaan]

I can only write about my surrounding, the lower northeast of this country, and there's absolutely nothing that got better regarding security/ safety.

They build more and more 4 lane roads in rural areas, but the drivers here seem to be the worst of this country.

Be warned when you're planning a trip to lower Isaan.

[chainarong]

You only have to take one look at the street electrical shamozzle to answer your own question , Thailand has stagnated since 1997 in more ways than one and safety is no better now than it was then, very basic...........................................

[gandalf12]

Having standards is only a small part of the overall safety issue. I am assuming but not believing that suitable safety standards exist in Thailand as a starting point. Once you have the standards they must be rigorously enforced with safety inspectors who are trained in the systems corresponding to the standards. From what I have seen there are very few if any safety officers here. In support of my argument just look at the hotel collapse on Koh Chang and the school that burnt down with the tragic deaths of 17 children.

Proper safety officers would never allow that school to be occupied without all the required safety features being in place and tested for functionality.

Building site workers very rarely if ever have proper safety equipment. How many have safety glasses, proper hard hat and safety boots that meet proper internationally recognized standards? I cant ever remember seeing any site with the workers fully equipped.

So, in summary there is no progress that I can point to but to have progress you have to have something in place to start with and that does not appear to be the case here in Thailand.

[worgeordie]

Umpteen people falling off balconies,buses tipping over,HiSo's killing people

with there cars,electrocutions,old people been beaten up,boats crashing,etc etc,

no i don't think safety standards are progressing.

regards worgeordie

[stoneyboy]

How can health and safety be improved in a country which is run by an unelected prime minister.

His concerns are the price of lottery tickets and attitude adjustment of his people.

NOT workplace safety or public safety which is evident from the daily carnage on the roads and news reports like today's building collapse and the Bangkok Bank suffocation incident a few weeks back.

Edited June 4, 2016 by stoneyboy

[nauseus]

no answer to such a strange question!

[fusion58]

Thailand has safety standards?

News to me.

[chowny77]

When I was teaching at one school I had to teach health. I decided to incorporate some other materials apart from brushing your teeth and decided on fire safety. I found out that the school did not even have an annual fire drill. I then with my class walked around the school grounds to see where fire hoses or fire extinguishes were. After a complete check we found no fire hoses, and only 6 extinguishes for the entire campus. Plus all of the extinguishes where out of date and water based. If there had been a fire in the computer lab someone would have died either from the fire or from electrocution. I did bring this to the attention of the director who just looked at me with a glazed eyed expression. Not surprisingly, four of the six extinguishes we found where in the building that housed the academic department and the directors man-cave. When I pressed even more on this issue he basically said, while laughing "Mai bpen rai"!! What an A-hole, more than 1,000 students and he could not give a turd unless their parents did not pay up on time.

[waldroj]

Public Liability lawyers should be the richest people in Thailand!

Nothing is going to change in this country until its businesses and individuals are made to take financial and legal responsibility for the personal injury or property damage they cause to a third party as a result of their total disregard to safety.

All levels of government are just as culpable because of their abject failure to do anything to champion the cause.

[NongKhaiKid]

You only have to take one look at the street electrical shamozzle to answer your own question , Thailand has stagnated since 1997 in more ways than one and safety is no better now than it was then, very basic...........................................

Glad you posted. Only yesterday workers from the provincial electric authority arrived outside my house, propped their ladder against the bird's nest of wires at the top of the pole there and went to work.

[shirtless]

Safety standards are not enforced , so no real standards exist, its about money only.

[selftaopath]

Safety standards are not enforced , so no real standards exist, its about money only.

INDEED.

Come to think about it.... what is enforced in Lack of Sanctions (LOS)?

[thai3]

Too much health and saftey in the west, here far too little to none at all

[marcusd]

When a Government BLATANTLY states they do not need foreigners INTERFERING in Thailand, how can they possibly learn anything?

We all can learn from eachother. But safety in Everything here has gone. Not gone down but Vanished!

[NongKhaiKid]

I remember a US educated lady, a director of the tv channel that became IN Channel, speaking about nuclear energy and shuddering at the thought of Thailand getting involved.

Her contention was that, irrespective of the most stringent specs, corruption would see the use of sub-standard materials, poor workmanship and cutting of corners to maximize profits then the necessary officials would be bribed to sign off on the construction etc.

Safety, what safety ?

[Colabamumbai]

What standards might they be?

[bazza40]

Thais live in the present, they do not think of consequences of actions. Preventative maintenance is a conceit of falangs. So is protective equipment.

One only has to look at overloaded pickups blowing smoke and cruising on bald tyres to see the validity of this assertion. Or watch a mechanic using a grinder without hearing protection or safety glasses.

[nickcar]

Definatly not. When you think of the agony of a mother a father when they lose their child to an accident, it is even worse if it could have been prevented. Fire, roads etc. Needs dramatic improvement some will take time (road safety) some could be done quickly if thw authoities had the will.

[Mook23]

Another 'survey'... Eat rice yet?

[Rockhopper]

Regarding the last answer; without a comma after the "No" the meaning is totally changed (unless that's what the author intended).

[lostinisaan]

I'm glad to be the one who was informed by a seven star general that safety in Thailand is only 1 km away.

P.S. Electricians and other highly qualified people can't even make a proper electrical installation at a little house.

I switched the main power off when i changed a light in the bathroom, not knowing that the hot wire was still hot and all the lights had power even when the main switch was off?

First my wife got a shock, i told her something about some eventual rest energy, but then i had the light in my hands and almost died in a wet bathroom standing on a ladder.

110 volts would have killed me, but the 230 made me "rush away". To rush to and away from a scene became one of my favorite ones in a country with limited safety,.

Even the ordinary red Thai condoms didn't pass my European safety standard tests.

Edited June 5, 2016 by lostinisaan

[Mook23]

Thais live in the present, they do not think of consequences of actions. Preventative maintenance is a conceit of falangs. So is protective equipment.

One only has to look at overloaded pickups blowing smoke and cruising on bald tyres to see the validity of this assertion. Or watch a mechanic using a grinder without hearing protection or safety glasses.

Or watching yet another farang falling in love with the bg he met and paid for. They don't live in the present but in illusion. Thai Farang 1-1...

[off road pat]

How can health and safety be improved in a country which is run by an unelected prime minister.

His concerns are the price of lottery tickets and attitude adjustment of his people.

NOT workplace safety or public safety which is evident from the daily carnage on the roads and news reports like today's building collapse and the Bangkok Bank suffocation incident a few weeks back.

The fact that the prime minister is unelected has nothing to do with safety standards, non existing safety standards were exactly the same with the previous corrupt elected governments...!!!

[LawrenceN]

Public Liability lawyers should be the richest people in Thailand!

Nothing is going to change in this country until its businesses and individuals are made to take financial and legal responsibility for the personal injury or property damage they cause to a third party as a result of their total disregard to safety.

All levels of government are just as culpable because of their abject failure to do anything to champion the cause.

We (Americans) love to complain about lawyers and tell jokes at their expense, but in more serious moments I have said lawyers are what makes America work. Thanks to lawyers, makers of shoddy or harmful products are held accountable, polluters can be stopped, public facilities are safe and accessible. Yeah, I know there are some odd labels, mattress tags, etc., but overall we're safer and fairer because of the rule of law.

[Artisi]

How can health and safety be improved in a country which is run by an unelected prime minister.

His concerns are the price of lottery tickets and attitude adjustment of his people.

NOT workplace safety or public safety which is evident from the daily carnage on the roads and news reports like today's building collapse and the Bangkok Bank suffocation incident a few weeks back.

What does the complete lack of enforcement got to do with an unelected PM, did safety sudden stop because of the military take over or is it the product of years of absolute crappy governments only interested in their spot in the trough.

[lostinisaan]

How can health and safety be improved in a country which is run by an unelected prime minister.

His concerns are the price of lottery tickets and attitude adjustment of his people.

NOT workplace safety or public safety which is evident from the daily carnage on the roads and news reports like today's building collapse and the Bangkok Bank suffocation incident a few weeks back.

The fact that the prime minister is unelected has nothing to do with safety standards, non existing safety standards were exactly the same with the previous corrupt elected governments...!!!

But that doesn't change the fact that a prime minister should do all for his folks to increase the safety standards.

Elected, erected, or selected. Your statement that the former corrupt government was the same answers the question.

Are less road deaths more important than the price of a lottery ticket?

And wouldn't a much better education reform be the goal of a self elected prime minister who's not really liked by anybody?

But you can't change anything when all the Ministers in important positions are soldiers. How can a general as the boss of the MoE change something, not knowing anything about the topic itself?

And that goes for all the important positions, all taken by military guys who're usually trained to kill, or to fight wars.

Somebody has to kiss snow white to wake her up before it's too late.

[Artisi]

How can health and safety be improved in a country which is run by an unelected prime minister.

His concerns are the price of lottery tickets and attitude adjustment of his people.

NOT workplace safety or public safety which is evident from the daily carnage on the roads and news reports like today's building collapse and the Bangkok Bank suffocation incident a few weeks back.

The fact that the prime minister is unelected has nothing to do with safety standards, non existing safety standards were exactly the same with the previous corrupt elected governments...!!!

But that doesn't change the fact that a prime minister should do all for his folks to increase the safety standards.

Elected, erected, or selected. Your statement that the former corrupt government was the same answers the question.

Are less road deaths more important than the price of a lottery ticket?

And wouldn't a much better education reform be the goal of a self elected prime minister who's not really liked by anybody?

But you can't change anything when all the Ministers in important positions are soldiers. How can a general as the boss of the MoE change something, not knowing anything about the topic itself?

And that goes for all the important positions, all taken by military guys who're usually trained to kill, or to fight wars.

Somebody has to kiss snow white to wake her up before it's too late.

Do you really believe a military guy, supposedly trained to analyse dangerous situations is not more skilled than a crappy politician who bought their way into politics and wouldn't know sh1t from clay, even after tasting it?

[MaxLee]

WTMFF????

[lostinisaan]

Public Liability lawyers should be the richest people in Thailand!

Nothing is going to change in this country until its businesses and individuals are made to take financial and legal responsibility for the personal injury or property damage they cause to a third party as a result of their total disregard to safety.

All levels of government are just as culpable because of their abject failure to do anything to champion the cause.

We (Americans) love to complain about lawyers and tell jokes at their expense, but in more serious moments I have said lawyers are what makes America work. Thanks to lawyers, makers of shoddy or harmful products are held accountable, polluters can be stopped, public facilities are safe and accessible. Yeah, I know there are some odd labels, mattress tags, etc., but overall we're safer and fairer because of the rule of law.

What do American lawyers have to do with Thai safety standards? You forgot that to mention that many Americans can't live without their psychologist.There's plenty of reading material online, numbers go from 20 -35 %...

How many therapists did you go through before finding one who fit?