Burmese migrant worker killed by fallen lamppost in Thailand

A lamppost toppled onto and killed a young Burmese migrant worker at a worker’s camp in Samut Prakan province, just south of Bangkok in central Thailand, yesterday morning.

At 11.30am, officers at Bang Phli Police Station, doctors from Bang Phli Hospital and rescue workers from the Ruam Katanyu Foundation were called to a construction site in the Bang Phli Yai subdistrict.

Police found the body of 24 year old Nay San Maung, from Myanmar, lying on the ground in a pool of blood. The deceased sustained severe wounds on the back of his head and fractures on his face.

Nay San Maung’s colleagues told the police that the deceased was an electrician and climbed a ladder to reach the top of a lamppost, more than 6 metres tall, to install electric wires.

While ascending the ladder, the lamppost toppled onto Nay San Maung. His colleagues ran over to help but said that Nay Say Maung was instantly killed.

Nay San Maung’s mother and other family members, who also live at the camp, were in a state of shock, said police.

The lamppost was not securely set in the ground but unsafely balanced on a concrete block, said police.

Investigators from Bang Phli Police Station said they are in the process of interrogating colleagues and supervisors at the construction site to find out whether this young man’s death could have been avoided. If anyone is found to have been negligent then they will be prosecuted accordingly, police said.

The lack of safety standards at construction sites in Thailand continues to cause injury and loss of life, usually to foreign migrant workers who do dangerous work for low wages.

Last month, over 100 Burmese migrant workers fled as the third and fourth floors of a four-storey building under construction in Bangkok collapsed.

Rescue workers searched through the rubble to find three trapped Burmese workers, one male and two female, who sustained head fractures and bodily wounds. Two more Burmese migrants fainted during the incident. No one was killed.