News Forum - English tourist seriously injured after fall from hotel balcony in Thailand

[socal]

2 hours ago, Soidog said:

Poor design and people just having fun relaxing. You don’t know people are drunk every time they fall. Maybe a fight for sure. But not necessarily a drunken fight. Too easy to write it off that way. There are hedonistic party zones all over the world and while there are surely the odd incident, nothing on the scale you hear of in Thailand and that will be the tip of the iceberg I suspect. 

It happens everywhere. Maybe a little more in Thailand because it is such a trendy place for younger ppl to go by themselves, because its so cheap. 

Poor design was probably a thing 30 years ago. But not now. Thailand is a decade+ ahead of places like Mexico or the Phillipines as far as over all construction quality is concerned. 

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, socal said:

It happens everywhere. Maybe a little more in Thailand because it is such a trendy place for younger ppl to go by themselves, because its so cheap. 

Poor design was probably a thing 30 years ago. But not now. Thailand is a decade+ ahead of places like Mexico or the Phillipines as far as over all construction quality is concerned. 

Well I wouldn’t say it’s cheap if you are from Europe. It costs you £800 is for air fares alone. Plenty of places in Spain, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey that are just as cheap. Don’t hear of many falling from balconies there. I’m not expert in building standards in Mexico, Philippines or Thailand, but the data on people having “accidents” in Thailand are about as proud a statistic as the death on the roads. 

[HolyCowCm]

12 hours ago, socal said:

Have you measured them ? Lets see some pics of these so called 2 foot high railings...

Yes. As I was saying...

They are roughly a bit over a meter and for me being just a bit over my hips. And it is easy even when not drinking to flip over them if not careful because they are at that odd height. And depending on the tiles they can be very slippery depending on if having socks on, or slippers or depending on what type of rubber your shoes bottom is made of. I have some running shoes from Adidas that I will never wear on certain surfaces or out when wet.

You don't need to keep pushing the ignorant issue as these low level balconies are a well know fact. 

[socal]

9 hours ago, HolyCowCm said:

They are roughly a bit over a meter and for me being just a bit over my hips. And it is easy even when not drinking to flip over them if not careful because they are at that odd height. And depending on the tiles they can be very slippery depending on if having socks on, or slippers or depending on what type of rubber your shoes bottom is made of. I have some running shoes from Adidas that I will never wear on certain surfaces or out when wet.

You don't need to keep pushing the ignorant issue as these low level balconies are a well know fact. 

If you are at a high risk of falling over belcony rails that are a few inches shorter then you weren't using near enough care and caution with the high ones in the first place.

The only way I can imagine this being an issue is if you are treating a belcony like its just another room in the apartment. Well, it aint just another room in the apt. 

Every time I step onto a belcony over a story high, it is  a different experince than stepping into one of the bedrooms. At minumim , I am aware of my footing. 

[JamesR]

13 minutes ago, socal said:

If you are at a high risk of falling over belcony rails that are a few inches shorter then you weren't using near enough care and caution with the high ones in the first place.

The only way I can imagine this being an issue is if you are treating a belcony like its just another room in the apartment. Well, it aint just another room in the apt. 

Every time I step onto a belcony over a story high, it is  a different experince than stepping into one of the bedrooms. At minumim , I am aware of my footing. 

I am going to stay in Hua Hin this coming Sunday for a few nights, I have asked for a room on a high floor so I will check out the balcony and 'test' how difficult it is to accidentally fall off of it while sober. 

I will then test it from 'a distance' while a little bit tipsy. 

[socal]

1 hour ago, JamesR said:

I am going to stay in Hua Hin this coming Sunday for a few nights, I have asked for a room on a high floor so I will check out the balcony and 'test' how difficult it is to accidentally fall off of it while sober. 

I will then test it from 'a distance' while a little bit tipsy. 

 

I look forward to your field report.

[Guest1]

On 2/27/2023 at 4:06 PM, AdvocatusDiaboli said:

Come June? when the come to Thailand tax is initiated then they are covered. As their 300THB entry fee covers their accident. Looks like the playbook doesn’t have to get old. 

Isn't that only for public hospitals?

Most often foreigners get transported to privat hospitals, without any questioning.

[Guest1]

12 hours ago, HolyCowCm said:

They are roughly a bit over a meter and for me being just a bit over my hips. And it is easy even when not drinking to flip over them if not careful because they are at that odd height. And depending on the tiles they can be very slippery depending on if having socks on, or slippers or depending on what type of rubber your shoes bottom is made of. I have some running shoes from Adidas that I will never wear on certain surfaces or out when wet.

You don't need to keep pushing the ignorant issue as these low level balconies are a well know fact. 

Roughly over a meter, sounds pretty near  to the minimum 1.11cm, a reeling in GB has to be.

Also in some countries 1m is enough for lower floors, and as higher the balcony is, as higher the reeling has to be.

The problem is , imho, more to find in the person, falling over the reeling.

 

[HolyCowCm]

13 hours ago, socal said:

If you are at a high risk of falling over belcony rails that are a few inches shorter then you weren't using near enough care and caution with the high ones in the first place.

The only way I can imagine this being an issue is if you are treating a belcony like its just another room in the apartment. Well, it aint just another room in the apt. 

Every time I step onto a belcony over a story high, it is  a different experince than stepping into one of the bedrooms. At minumim , I am aware of my footing. 

I think it deals with slightly taller people and the center of gravity, balance, how slippery the tiles are and the having the safety extra height on open balcony railings or balcony walls. If you have seen many of balcony are not open slatted railings but a solid cement brick wall which does not allow your feet to go under and create a best support, that is if you can picutre and actual open railing with slats compared to a wall. Don't think most choose to fall over the balcony wall unless they really did choose to end it all. But any such of the matter, this problem will keep on being a problem and yes, please do take care when you are on a balcony as is actually no joke.

[JamesR]

26 minutes ago, HolyCowCm said:

I think it deals with slightly taller people and the center of gravity, balance, how slippery the tiles are and the having the safety extra height on open balcony railings or balcony walls. If you have seen many of balcony are not open slatted railings but a solid cement brick wall which does not allow your feet to go under and create a best support, that is if you can picutre and actual open railing with slats compared to a wall. Don't think most choose to fall over the balcony wall unless they really did choose to end it all. But any such of the matter, this problem will keep on being a problem and yes, please do take care when you are on a balcony as is actually no joke.

In that case, it would be mainly Dutch, Swedes, and Norwegians falling off balconies, not the short-arsed British blokes. 

What about women, they are shorter than men in most cultures, why is it not women who are falling off in greater numbers than men?

I think it might be more like alcohol and male showboating which is the main cause.

[HolyCowCm]

11 minutes ago, JamesR said:

In that case, it would be mainly Dutch, Swedes, and Norwegians falling off balconies, not the short-arsed British blokes. 

What about women, they are shorter than men in most cultures, why is it not women who are falling off in greater numbers than men?

I think it might be more like alcohol and male showboating which is the main cause.

I was just pointing out the height and type of railings or wall and floor surface for grip. The solid walls are the most dangerous and those are my biggest concern of all the under par balconies I have been on. Excluding the ones who want to jump, yes I will agree that there is probably some sort of inebriation going on that clouds the persons perception. Male show boating center of balance looking over. I would gather most are probably the walled ones and not railings with open slates. If it is showboating then it is sort of like thinking of it as cleaning out the gene pool out there.

[socal]

14 hours ago, HolyCowCm said:

I was just pointing out the height and type of railings or wall and floor surface for grip. The solid walls are the most dangerous and those are my biggest concern of all the under par balconies I have been on. Excluding the ones who want to jump, yes I will agree that there is probably some sort of inebriation going on that clouds the persons perception. Male show boating center of balance looking over. I would gather most are probably the walled ones and not railings with open slates. If it is showboating then it is sort of like thinking of it as cleaning out the gene pool out there.

We agree, balconies are no joke.

Have you ever walked over the Hoover dam ? I have. The railing is really quite low. They seem to think the thickness makes up for it. Or maybe concrete rails arent required to be as high. For me, it is insane how low the Hoover dam rail is. I could not walk against the rail. I am 6 foot 2. I can basically see over the other side and death is just right there. Like holding a loaded gun.

But then there's a lot of ppl, who are leaning over, getting pics. Taking selfies, as if its not even there. There are people who sit on the concrete for pics. Its insane.

There has been 100 suicides there since it was built

Here's a pic (image posting seems hopeless on this forum still)

https://imgbox.com/NOeIr74B

or a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47RmRHrqBB4

 

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by socal

[HolyCowCm]

7 hours ago, socal said:

We agree, balconies are no joke.

Have you ever walked over the Hoover dam ? I have. The railing is really quite low. They seem to think the thickness makes up for it. Or maybe concrete rails arent required to be as high. For me, it is insane how low the Hoover dam rail is. I could not walk against the rail. I am 6 foot 2. I can basically see over the other side and death is just right there. Like holding a loaded gun.

But then there's a lot of ppl, who are leaning over, getting pics. Taking selfies, as if its not even there. There are people who sit on the concrete for pics. Its insane.

There has been 100 suicides there since it was built

Here's a pic (image posting seems hopeless on this forum still)

https://imgbox.com/NOeIr74B

or a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47RmRHrqBB4

No have not, but have walked on the Golden Gate Bridge many times before the safety net was put in my younger years. Now that was creepy for me.