Safety standards..what safety standards
Yesterday, as I was walking along one of the major streets near the hospital, I noticed electricity company guys laying new wires on the poles. I have written about the way they do this in Bangkok and it always seems strange compared to the way we do it in Canada. Back in 2009, I saw a bunch of utility guys trying to get a cable through a conduit. Instead of using some cool machine, they decided to have fun and play ‘tug of war.’ Also in 2009, I saw guys trying to clear tree limbs from pole mounted wiring, so they just climbed the trees and started cutting. No worries about traffic or people walking beneath them.
Yesterday was no different, even though we are 6 years on and I have noticed that Bangkok safety standards have generally improved. But not apparently in the wiring business. Some of the guys rolled a humongous spool of wire down the road. Every so often, when there was a small downward slope, the spool would start to roll on its own and a whole bunch of guys would have to grab it and hold on for life to slow it down. Of course this was happening as rushing traffic was heading their way.
The climber guys, who wore no safety equipment, carried ladders from pole to pole and just strung up the wire somehow managing, I guess, to understand where it went in the mess of cables already hanging from the poles. The ladders were put out on the street and the guys holding them were, during my brief period of watching, nearly hit by cars a number of times. No safety gear, no protection for pedestrians or street hawkers below, no worries about oncoming traffic.
The electricity service in Thailand unlike in India, for example, is actually amazingly reliable. I don’t really understand why as it seems like stuff is just thrown up wherever. But it all seems to work, which perhaps suggests that electricity runs its course no matter how haphazardly the wiring is installed.
I was saying that the motorcycle taxis on the sidewalk don’t scare me. This on the other hand… terrifying. Reason enough to not wear earbuds while walking down the street. Luckily as seen in the featured image there’s an excellent hospital nearby.
Yes, we have a special electrocution and smashed by car department. Those guys are crazy!!
The layers of lines is fascinating. Too bad they’re electrical – I can imagine a brilliant art installation with the wires as a base. You could hang all sorts of things, weave various materials. Electrocution seems like a small price for such an innovative cultural project!
You have a good point. Actually, every so often you do get spectacular electrical arcs, when the crossed wires get intermeshed and start to short circuit. That makes for a pretty nice art display. But very quickly, crews with their ladders, come and somehow figure out how to uncross the wires. I have also seen big trucks and buses mess with the wires, often creating interesting flying wire effects – kind of like high wire acts with the wires flying through the air in interesting patterns. Art knows no bounds or arcs.
…or safety regulations.
Safety regulations…Not needed here apparently.
So maybe these wires weren’t really connected and you were photographing art installers and not electricians. r
Yup, that could be true. But if it is the case, at least they could start to use different coloured wires to add some variety to the work.
I must confess that I find the wires terrifying and a visual blight, especially when there is care and creativity in some of the new architecture, like the new hospital building and then these overladen posts destroy the space.
But perhaps there could be a cheese roll vs spool roll contest…..
You’re right. It seems like when new wires are installed the old ones stay even if they don’t work. During my last trip, a truck knocked some wires down in front of the hospital. The repair crew did some splicing but didn’t seem to remove the old stuff. Perhaps in 10 years, the entire landscape in Bangkok will be made up of just wires stuck on polls. I wouldn’t mind a cheese roll about now.