A junk dealer suffered burns over 80% of his body after he used a blowtorch on a tank containing concentrated alcohol in Pong.
Chawien Janhom, 58, also sustained deep wounds to both legs, down to the bone, when the tank containing 75% alcohol exploded April 27 at the unnamed recycling shop on Soi Wat Sawangarom in Pong, east Pattaya. He was taken to Banglamung Hospital.
Daughter Pipchano Boonruksa, 25, said her father was unaware the 200-liter tank he was dissembling with a gas-powered torch still contained alcohol. The resulting explosion threw Chawien more than two meters across the room and rattled windows of neighboring homes.