A Thai university student in Chonburi’s Sriracha district sustained injuries after riding her motorbike into electric cables that had fallen onto the road while workers were cutting them, causing her motorbike to flip over.
Around 11:30am yesterday, police received a report that the woman, 19-year-old Manatnan Watkoolsiri, has been injured after she ran into the cables.
Police say the woman received injuries on her neck, legs, and arms as well as minor cuts on various parts of her body.
Authorities performed first aid on her before transporting her to Phyathai hospital, reported Thairath.
Officials from the province’s Electricity Authority told police that workers had been cutting unused cables above the road right when the woman drove by.
They claimed that, even though one worker had been conducting traffic, Manatnan ignored the signal and sped forward, causing a cable to get tangled around her neck leading to her motorcycle flipping over.
Meanwhile, Manatnan claimed that she had, in fact, see the signal but did not understand what the worker meant by it. She said she didn’t notice the cables, either.
The police say their investigation into the incident is still on-going as police are looking to question more witnesses.
While the cables on the Chonburi road where the incident took place do not appear to be the crazy messy nest of wires we’re so used to seeing on Thailand’s roads, it’s still fair to note that the country’s notorious cables have drawn international criticism over the years due to the potential danger they pose.
In 2016, Bill Gates even posted about it on Facebook.
“Due to faulty infrastructure, many urban areas suffer from frequent blackouts and power cuts, and the electrical grid often doesn’t serve the people who need it most.” Gates wrote in a 2016 Facebook post.
“I’ve visited many cities filled with tangled wires such as those in this photo from Thailand, where people have illegally tapped into the grid on their own to get the power they need — at great personal risk.”
While the jury’s still out on the the cause of accident, there’s no debate that something should be done about these messy cables — which, in an embarrassing way, have turned into a poor-taste photo-op for tourists in Thailand.
Reader Interactions