Danger! Men At Work

Health & Safety doesn't really exist in Thailand. It makes an interesting contrast to the UK, where it's getting to the stage whereby you won't be allowed to leave your house without a suit of armour to shield yourself against the myriad of possible accidents that may befall you. I was reminded just how different Thailand is in this respect on my way to the gym this morning. My usual route to the gym takes me past a construction site on which a large residential development is being built. There are hazards at every turn and yet the labourers wear just thin cotton trousers, a long sleeved shirt, flip-flops and a cloth tied round their heads to protect them from the sun. They seem less worried about protecting their heads from falling objects or from themselves falling from scaffolding which they are not attached to. They are provided with no protective clothing, work boots or hard hats whatsoever. Even more worrying is the presence of children at the weekends and after school, running around the site and playing games around welders and carpenters, dodging sparks and machinery.

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, the Thais have the same cavalier attitude to vehicle safety. It's perfectly normal for a whole family, including a baby squished in between mum and dad, and sometimes a couple of pets, to ride around on a single moped. Huge groups of construction workers squeeze into the outside part of pick-up trucks. I'm not saying that Thailand should be more like the UK when it comes to health and safety - God knows, no country need have their hand held by the state in the way that the people of the UK are subjected to - but at least give those poor workers a hard hat!