Dear Sir,
On Thursday, 3rd February, I watched the Chinese Dragon Parade taking place outside Friendship supermarket, an annual event, but one I haven’t attended for many years. It was an enjoyable spectacle, but was marred at the end by an accident that revealed once again the lack of concern for safety that is so often apparent in Thailand. The climax of the show was a symbolic battle between a boy perched on the end of a bamboo pole about 8 to 10 metres high and the paper dragon being manipulated by a human tower on a nearby bamboo structure.
At the end of the show the boy’s pole was lowered to the ground, but when he was still about 3 metres from the ground the pole snapped and he fell to the ground, landing on his back. It was obvious that the bamboo was rotten, probably as a result of termite infestation. It appeared that there had been no attempt beforehand to test the strength and integrity of the pole.
The distraught father picked the boy up and carried him to another spot, an action that was understandable, but ill-advised in view of the possibility of spinal injury. The boy should have been examined by a medically trained person before being moved. After about five minutes the boy revived and was able to stand up and walk. Miraculously he seemed to have suffered no more than shock, but he should have been sent to hospital for an X-ray to ascertain whether there had been any internal injury. As far as I could see this did not happen.
For want of a few simple safety precautions this event could so easily have ended in a terrible tragedy. I would like to think that lessons will be learned from this to avoid a similar accident in future, but I suspect that is a forlorn hope.
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Stewart
