Joined
·
834 Posts
Within the past week or so two tourists have been electrocuted. One was a 23 year old Israeli tourist swimming at night and somehow an electric cable fell into the swimming pool killing him. The second I read about just today where a 17 year old boy was electrocuted in the shower. This latter was thought to have been caused by faulty wiring - specifically, the water heater was not grounded.
ALL electrical outlets should be grounded and, ideally, have a ground force interrupter to eliminate this danger. I think they go by a similar but different name in Europe. If they don't [and I'll bet most do not] at least check to see the wiring is grounded. It's very easy to do - just take off the convenience outlet cover [usually one screw] and look at the convenience outlet. MAKE SURE there is a ground wire and that it's properly grounded. Just having a ground wire - if it's not adequately grounded - isn't going to protect you. I would check even hotels, guest houses, rentals as it only takes a few hundreths [thousandths?] of a second to lose your life. Another safety tip - wear rubber shower shoes in the shower or stand on a rubber mat - they might save your life. If in a tub [ladies more than men] keep ALL electrical appliances away from the tub.
One of the reasons accommodations are cheap in Thailand is that their buildings are not constructed to the same standard as in the west and the inspectors are either not properly trained - or don't care. Do not rely on the bureaucracy to protect you and your family. Protect yourselves. And don't rely on your landlord either. Be careful!
Serendipity2
ALL electrical outlets should be grounded and, ideally, have a ground force interrupter to eliminate this danger. I think they go by a similar but different name in Europe. If they don't [and I'll bet most do not] at least check to see the wiring is grounded. It's very easy to do - just take off the convenience outlet cover [usually one screw] and look at the convenience outlet. MAKE SURE there is a ground wire and that it's properly grounded. Just having a ground wire - if it's not adequately grounded - isn't going to protect you. I would check even hotels, guest houses, rentals as it only takes a few hundreths [thousandths?] of a second to lose your life. Another safety tip - wear rubber shower shoes in the shower or stand on a rubber mat - they might save your life. If in a tub [ladies more than men] keep ALL electrical appliances away from the tub.
One of the reasons accommodations are cheap in Thailand is that their buildings are not constructed to the same standard as in the west and the inspectors are either not properly trained - or don't care. Do not rely on the bureaucracy to protect you and your family. Protect yourselves. And don't rely on your landlord either. Be careful!
Serendipity2