New Zealand man plunges 20 floors to death in Patong

[gdgbb]

15 hours ago, The Old Bull said:

Is anybody keeping count of how many go over the edge? Seems to be a few every week. A few hundred in a year?

 Maybe someone should keep an accurate count if only to counteract the exaggerated claims of Thaivisa posters.

 

A few every week would only amount to your guess of a few hundred each year if you think that there are 100 weeks in a year.  But you're wrong anyway, there are nowhere near "a few every week" reported.

Edited December 29, 2016 by gdgbb

[gdgbb]

11 hours ago, AWillOz said:

I've been keeping a list for nearly 2 years now of all jumps and falls that make it to the news and in 2016 i've seen 34. Like you, i was thinking that i just about hear of one every few days. Of course there are many which don't make the news which is even more sad.  I just wish they would believe that everything can be solved if they'd find people to talk to..

 

34 in 2 years?  So confirmation that there are nowhere near a few a week, then.  

 

What do you mean by "of course there are many which don't make the news"?   How do you know about all of those that no one else knows about if they're not reported?

 

"...everything can be solved if they'd find people to talk to.."

Unfortunately that is untrue and is a trite statement made by only those who have never been in the position of many people who commit, or try to commit, suicide.

[gdgbb]

9 hours ago, masuk said:

I doubt that there is a Thai standard for safety railings;    They should be waist high (farang) .     Obviously missed by the Building Inspector before hand-over. 

 

How high is a farang waist? 

[MyFriend You]

12 hours ago, Goingmad said:

I married to a set of Twin Thai girls. One like me more then the other.

We live on Floor 22 of my condo building.

I bought a 15 foot piece of chain and hook it around my waist, every time I set foot on my balcony.

 

This I would like to see  -  the Thai Twins I mean, the chain aroiund the waist is a good touch though, never would have thought of that....................I like living around the 5th floor, chances are better of surviving a fall.

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

6 minutes ago, TunnelRat69 said:

This I would like to see  -  the Thai Twins I mean, the chain aroiund the waist is a good touch though, never would have thought of that....................I like living around the 5th floor, chances are better of surviving a fall.

I think the twins might finish me off without needing to jump...

Blue pill and a few beers, what a way to GO!

Seriously though, falling from the 5th floor you would likely be a paraplegic vegetable if you survive. Go up a floor or two, or down to the ground or 1st level.

Our friend  Goingmad would be better off with a bungee cable and harness. He could wave as he disappears for a beer and leaves them to fight it out. At least he hasn't got two mother-in-laws!

[Lex Talionis]

17 hours ago, AWillOz said:

I just wish they would believe that everything can be solved if they'd find people to talk to..

 

You don't know the particulars. So. Up to them. 

 

instead just wish them well in the next

life.

[Lex Talionis]

15 hours ago, masuk said:

I doubt that there is a Thai standard for safety railings;    They should be waist high (farang) .     Obviously missed by the Building Inspector before hand-over. 

 

Yeah and my back aches every time I do the dishes. Why don't the Thai get with the program and design everything to Barang standards? The unmitigated nerve to set everything up to suit their own body size!

[GarryP]

Just now, Lex Talionis said:

 

Yeah and my back aches every time I do the dishes. Why don't the Thai get with the program and design everything to Barang standards? The unmitigated nerve to set everything up to suit their own body size!

And so the hotels are only catering to Thais? Foreigners don't live in Thai condos? The average height of the local population is not increasing?

[Goingmad]

6 hours ago, TunnelRat69 said:

This I would like to see  -  the Thai Twins I mean, the chain aroiund the waist is a good touch though, never would have thought of that....................I like living around the 5th floor, chances are better of surviving a fall.

When They push you. Try to grab one of them to break your fall.

[ezrider62]

23 hours ago, DavisH said:

I'm in my hotel room on the 17th floor now. The building has 38 floors. The balcony railing is surprisingly low. They should be at least 5 feet high. I'll bet some of them are accidental falls, and not all are suicide or by nefarious means. 

 

No doubt, I am short only 5-8 and I feel very unsecure near railings just about anywhere in this country.

[Old Croc]

Look at the picture again.

All this talk about low balconies and accidental falls doesn't apply here.

He would have had to climb up it to jump.

 

[hottrader77]

19 hours ago, AWillOz said:

I've been keeping a list for nearly 2 years now of all jumps and falls that make it to the news and in 2016 i've seen 34. Like you, i was thinking that i just about hear of one every few days. Of course there are many which don't make the news which is even more sad.  I just wish they would believe that everything can be solved if they'd find people to talk to..

it looks a nice view maybe he got excited by the view , wonder if there is a particular day they DONT jump , do they have sundays off , its so irresponsible of them if the garbage man had been collecting garbage at the time he could have been seriously hurt , it must have made a loud bang apart from waking people up in the middle of the night and not getting a good sleep, someone must have heard it and gone to look but nobody seems bothered its like they said , oh ! there goes another one , make sure you wear a hard hat next time your at bottom of a high rise it seems best time to see this spectacle is 2am - 4.30am maybe any other day except a sunday , its a painful sport better to take a full bottle of pills alot easier !!

[lungnorm]

On 12/29/2016 at 0:53 PM, DavisH said:

I'm in my hotel room on the 17th floor now. The building has 38 floors. The balcony railing is surprisingly low. They should be at least 5 feet high. I'll bet some of them are accidental falls, and not all are suicide or by nefarious means. 

Most high rise buildings do not have open balconies over a certain height. I think the law is for railing heights is 1.5M high so as to avoid accidental falls.

[lungnorm]

I really feel sorry for the poor guys taking the balcony way out of life. better way to go and a lot less painful is a 1ltre bottle of Chivas Regal drink it all and then secure a plastic bag over your head. You will go to sleep and never wake up.

[Old Croc]

4 minutes ago, lungnorm said:

I really feel sorry for the poor guys taking the balcony way out of life. better way to go and a lot less painful is a 1ltre bottle of Chivas Regal drink it all and then secure a plastic bag over your head. You will go to sleep and never wake up.

To each their own I guess.

He booked into what looks like a Junior Suite on a high floor, quite pricey just after Xmas I'm guessing. Money not a problem, or not a problem if you don't have to pay the credit card bill?

He came back alone to the room after 0300am, perhaps having utilized a type of the Chivas Regal method, and decided it was the time.

[DavisH]

23 hours ago, trogers said:

 

Five feet high? The handrail would be blocking the eyes of many...?

It wouldn't be a complete solid wall - there could be gaps or a glass partition......but enough to stop accidental falls or hinder anyone trying to push anyone over it. 

Edited December 30, 2016 by DavisH

[DavisH]

1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

Look at the picture again.

All this talk about low balconies and accidental falls doesn't apply here.

He would have had to climb up it to jump.

 

I bet those police are barely 5 ft 8 inches. I'm 6 ft 3 inches and the railing in my hotel would have been one rung lower than that in the picture. 

[Old Croc]

Just now, DavisH said:

I bet those police are barely 5 ft 8 inches. I'm 6 ft 3 inches and the railing in my hotel would have been one rung lower than that in the picture. 

My opinion is that the only way to make that particular balcony safer from accidental  falls would be to enclose it. That's one of the highest balconies I've seen in Thailand.  

[Andrew65]

1 hour ago, DavisH said:

I bet those police are barely 5 ft 8 inches. I'm 6 ft 3 inches and the railing in my hotel would have been one rung lower than that in the picture. 

Yes, but they are average height Thais.

 

I'm only 6ft, but have often banged my head on things that to a Thai are placed at a good height (signs etc).

[Lex Talionis]

4 hours ago, GarryP said:

And so the hotels are only catering to Thais? Foreigners don't live in Thai condos? The average height of the local population is not increasing?

 

I don't know whether the avg. height is increasing. But you have to admit, most farangs are looking for a bargain and stay at places that are old and substandard.

[impulse]

20 hours ago, lungnorm said:

Most high rise buildings do not have open balconies over a certain height. I think the law is for railing heights is 1.5M high so as to avoid accidental falls.

 

The wall on my apartment balcony is 36" (0.9M), which seems pretty standard here in Thailand.  When I first moved in, I leaned over to watch a flock of birds fighting on the balcony below me, and suddenly realized that my center of mass was over the wall and if my feet slipped, I'd be going over.  Fortunately, it wasn't a rainy day, and I learned my lesson at no cost.

 

If it's like a lot of things, people who grew up with low railings know the score, people who didn't risk learning the hard way.

 

I've stayed at some Thai hotels where they actually added about 12" to the height of their original railings.  Kudos to them for that.

Edited December 30, 2016 by impulse

[GarryP]

25 minutes ago, Lex Talionis said:

 

I don't know whether the avg. height is increasing. But you have to admit, most farangs are looking for a bargain and stay at places that are old and substandard.

I can't disagree with you on that.

[impulse]

42 minutes ago, Lex Talionis said:

I don't know whether the avg. height is increasing. But you have to admit, most farangs are looking for a bargain and stay at places that are old and substandard.

 

One day, a smart (and well connected) Thai lawyer is going to figure out there's money in suing building owners for inherently unsafe practices like low railings, and poorly wired electricals.

 

The cost of adding a foot to the height of a railing is less than 1/2 of 1% of the total cost of the building.  Maybe a night's rent.  Cheap doesn't have to mean unsafe.

Edited December 30, 2016 by impulse