The Provincial Electricity Authority responded yesterday to a raging online debate over whether it’s legal or safe for villagers in Chachoengsao province to build their houses right alongside — and, in fact, attached to — pre-existing electric poles.
When pictures of five houses on Thepkunakorn Road were shared via Facebook on Saturday, netizens were quick to claim that developers were attempting to save a bit of money by essentially turning the poles into part of the homes’ structure.
“They’re going down. Oh the greed of the developers,” read one comment.
And what about safety issues?
“Aren’t they afraid of shortages? Or getting electrocuted? Or what if the poles fell?”
https://www.facebook.com/teambigkren/posts/425313687940560
In response to mounting speculation, electrical authorities yesterday showed up to assess the five houses.
They explained that homeowners felt they could utilize the electric poles as de facto construction material because the poles had actually been installed inside their property lines. Why? Because already laid underground pipelines had already determined precisely where the poles had to be located, Morning News reported.
Be that as it may, officials said residents are still not allowed to use the electric poles in the building of their homes and that they have been ordered to detach their houses from the poles.
One of the five homeowners, Kamphol Suksomanat, told television reporters that he will fix his terrace so it no longer attaches to one of the poles, adding that he didn’t know it was not allowed.
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