Lets' make little Namnung's death the last one, calls Thai media

[webfact]

Lets' make little Namnung's death the last one, calls Thai media

 

Picture: Sanook

 

BANGKOK: -- Thai media has reacted in the wake of the tragic death of four year old Yosita Bunngam or Namnung who fell down a drain at a housing estate in Samut Sakorn on Wednesday.

 

CCTV showed the little girl falling down the sewer behind a shop after she went out to buy sweets with her elder brother.

 

Sanook.com carried a picture online yesterday fronting a story that said: "Let's make this the last corpse - these are accidents we can stop".

 

Sanook said there needed to be a concerted effort to stop such preventable tragedies - and not just react when one occurs.

 

They criticized Thai people by using the Thai proverb "surrounding the pen after the cow has escaped" (locking the stable door after the horse has bolted).

 

And to give weight to their story they outlined two other tragedies of a similar nature that have already occurred this year. Tragedies where something was done only afterwards when prevention could have easily saved both lives.

 

The first tragedy occurred in early March at a school in Ban Khai district of Rayong when a 12 year old student playing on a car tire near a drain cover fell down a deep shaft and drowned.

 

Sanook said the student was seen jumping on a concrete cover that eventually gave way. They said he fell fifty meters in to seven meters of filthy water and died. His friends saw him fall in.

 

The district chief ordered improvements afterwards while the school director said that the children had been told not to play in that area as it was dangerous and off limits.

 

Picture: Sanook

 

In another case a 77 year old man was killed in the street in late February. The man, believed to be suffering from some form of dementia, fell down an uncovered drain near a fresh food market in Koh Chan district of Chonburi.

 

It was two days before he was found.

 

He had banged his head when falling in the drain and drowned.

 

Sanook said in a feature article that all concerned must look at preventing such accidents and not just react when one occurs.

 

Source: Sanook

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-05-12

[trogers]

Nothing will change when contractors and their subcontractors are given govt jobs by their political connections, and not by their performance...

[jollyhangmon]

>Sanook said in a feature article that all concerned must look at preventing such accidents and not just react when one occurs.<

 

Hear, hear ... how about holding these sorry excuses for 'officials' properly accountable too if things go tits up - which happens about every minute somewhere here in one way or the other btw. ... 

[williamgeorgeallen]

she will be the last one, until the next one.

[dcpo]

The problem in Thailand is they don't even react after the event. It's all very well hand-wringing in the media, but until the law actually starts holding people accountable for their negligence nothing will change. And I don't just mean the workmen, but the organizations that allow work to be done with such sloppy safety systems in place. Don't hold your breath though.

[worgeordie]

If only,they most likely have not covered them up yet,put a stick in

thats good enough,

regards worgeordie

[cardinalblue]

Unlike America the media doesn't control anything in thailand let alone making ridiculous statements like let this be the last one....

 

dog eat dog mindset controls the Thai culture....Darwin would have loved thailand and other SE Asian countries as his laboratory....

[Bob12345]

25 minutes ago, dcpo said:

The problem in Thailand is they don't even react after the event. It's all very well hand-wringing in the media, but until the law actually starts holding people accountable for their negligence nothing will change. And I don't just mean the workmen, but the organizations that allow work to be done with such sloppy safety systems in place. Don't hold your breath though.

And thats exactly correct, the one thing missing is "accountability".

 

Presuming the local government "owns" the roads and sewer system I would think the family of the kid should sue the local government for a couple of million baht.

Then all of a sudden the mathematics change: put on the covers immediately which will cost maybe 100k in labour or run the risk someone falls in and pay out 1M+ baht.

[cardinalblue]

Bob....you are not thinking in how this culture works .....

 

there are not 1M baht settlements to average Nois....there will be some good natured voluntary gift of 10-20k from the gov which has nothing to do with accountability or civil liabilities. A small settlement will be accepted which avoids any involvement in the legal system...

 

as to the local gov creating a budget and then maintaining an inspection and repair schedule...do you really believe there is a fear about liability and neglegence to those who should be responsible and accountable?

 

much easier and less work just to go through the routine of a small payment in x months to the next Nit....

 

absolutely no justice,  no baseline standards, no higher expectations for the common folk here.....

 

just the the way it works here....

 

Now about those 3 workers in the water tank or those 3 workers under that falling crane, how is this case any different?

 

 

Edited May 12, 2017 by cardinalblue

[Megasin1]

Somebody once said to me that if any job is 100% and 10% of that job is difficult then that's the 10% that Thais wont do. I have similar experience of this when I wanted a reinforced toe along the edge of a concrete slab that a Thai builder was laying for me and against my better judgement I eventually caved in because he was determined not to do that toe, the result of this is that eventually the edge dropped. That final finishing, or the effort required to finish something properly seems to be lacking, perhaps its the way that contractor payment phases are paid, or that the bribery system means you don't have to finish something as the person accepting the works is already indebted to you. The bribery system, you can call it what you want, incentivising, kick-back, planning gain, whatever is in existence all over the world however what Thailand doesn't have is stiff penalties for Health & Safety breaches that inevitably lead to the tragic loss of life due to negligent, irresponsible behaviour. Thailand is after all, a third world country and as such will always have a higher mortality rate than developed countries, yes, they will wring their hands, and they will try and lay the blame at someone's door, but accidents like this won't stop because simply put to avoid tragic events like this would add a high cost to all construction works which eventually the last person in the chain has to pay, be it the Government or the Condo buyer. It is a crying shame though that companies (never mind the Government inspectors) do not have enough pride in their own work to at least leave their works in a safe manner before opening these areas to the public. A tragic and preventable loss of a life that had hardly begun.

[ghillie44]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

while the school director said that the children had been told not to play in that area as it was dangerous and off limits

If he knew this why did he not get something done to prevent accidents?  He surely is guilty of serious negligence or worse

[SunsetT]

3 hours ago, dcpo said:

The problem in Thailand is they don't even react after the event. It's all very well hand-wringing in the media, but until the law actually starts holding people accountable for their negligence nothing will change. And I don't just mean the workmen, but the organizations that allow work to be done with such sloppy safety systems in place. Don't hold your breath though.

Zero care or safety consciousness by contractors or authorities..........

 

.........I once cycled into this totally unmarked hole in the promenade in Nakhon Phanom town one dark wet evening. It remained like this for 3 or 4 days before major work on the promenade commenced.

Edited May 12, 2017 by SunsetT

[AGareth2]

such a sad story

[wvavin]

Nothing is going to change!

[Grumpy Duck]

12 hours ago, ghillie44 said:

If he knew this why did he not get something done to prevent accidents?  He surely is guilty of serious negligence or worse

He Did do something. He told the children it was not safe, to stay away. But being a professional leader of children, he should have realized telling children something is "dangerous" will actually spur children's curiosity and cause them to investigate!

[Chongalulu]

They simply do not have the quality of foresight nor can be arsed to acquire it. That's the culture,get used to it.

[Phuketboy]

A lot of people talking about contractors and suncontractors in these posts.  Everyone should know, there are no "Qualified" or properly trained builders, contractors, subcontractors in Thailand.  You only need to look around at the finish quality of any work done to know this.  As a builder and tradesman, I can tell you, when I get work done, I stand right next to them until they have finished, to ensure it is done correctly. Sometimes even having to show and explain to them. If it's not done properly, or not cleaned up and any unfinished work left in a safe way, there is no payment until it is.  The only way to have them do things right, is to teach them.