Wasp wipe out a blast

PHRAE: Two teachers in Phrae province were left fuming on June 23 after asking their local council for help in ridding their house of a wasps’ nest only to come back and find that the fumigators had rid them not only of the wasps, but also of half their house.

Praphan Saisa-aat, 51, and his wife, K. Rachanee, 53, were first pestered by the wasps two days earlier when one stung K. Praphan on the head as he was cutting the grass. When he went to investigate where the aggressive insect had come from, he found a nest in a ventilation pipe leading to an enclosed area under the house, which is raised up on stilts.

To prevent further attacks, K. Praphan bought some insecticide. “When I sprayed the insecticide onto the nest, the wasps flew out from under the house and into the house itself,” K. Praphan said.

“My wife and I rushed into the bedroom [until the wasps left]. On [June 23] morning, I called the municipality office and asked for help to get rid of the wasps. The municipality sent workers round with a fumigator, but after about five minutes there was an explosion. My house, which cost 700,000 baht and was built only 10 years ago, was badly damaged and my computer, air conditioner, television, fridge, hi-fi and furniture, with a combined value of more than 300,000 baht, were all destroyed,” K. Praphan added.

A reporter at the scene said that many of the couple’s possessions had been blown clear of the house and that both stories of the raised brick abode had been damaged.

K. Praphan’s worldly possessions were not the only things damaged in the explosion, as the three hapless exterminators – Od, Phiset and Kaow – all sustained injuries.

Od said that at the time of the explosion, he and his two colleagues were fumigating the space under the house with pesticide of the type used to kill aedes aegypti – the striped mosquito that transmits dengue fever. After about five minutes, however, the mixture exploded, sending him and his two colleagues flying in different directions, though none of them were seriously injured.

Lt Col Meedech Kengsanthia, head of Phrae Forensic Police, said that when the insecticide was sprayed under the house, the pressure of the mixture would have been increased as there was little ventilation. This, combined with the heat, could have caused it to explode, Col Meedech explained.

Maj Somchai Dentee, duty inspector at Muang Phrae Police Station, said that the three exterminators had yet to be charged with any offenses as police were waiting for a report from Forensic Police in Lampang.

Phatphong Phongnuan, deputy mayor of Muang Phrae, said that after examining the house, he found no evidence suggesting that the explosion was caused by the negligence of the municipality employees. This method of driving out wasps has been used many times before and, as far as he knew, in Thailand there have been no previous incidents of explosions.

K. Praphan and K. Rachanee will receive some kind of compensation for the destruction, K. Phatphong said, but as for how much, they will have to wait and see what the regulations allow.