Body Snatchers of Bangkok

[Guest]

>>>I've noticed that most of the cars are all made in a similiar fashion, specifically made for the task at hand. As far as I'm aware, the Po Teck Tung cars for example are almost all of them white with text stickers in Thai, English and Chinese. The cars also -- of course -- carry specific emergency rescue equipment.<<<

 

 

first, you got the base of the poh teck tueng - the volonteers, in the blue uniform. they use their own private cars - styled in whatever fashion, from simple pick ups with small lights to highly tuned racers.

then, you have the pick ups of the emploeyed workers, in yellow uniform, as you described. you can see the difference between a car like that, and a similar styled car from a volonteer in the radio code number, which is attached at the front in a blue round sticker. the volonteers have four numbers, while the employees have three.

then you have the ambulances, also white, properly equipped with all emergency equipment, and with doctors.

then you got some special vehicles, such as one which the foundation is very proud off, recently bought - a proper desaster relief vehicle, with all sort of equipment to get injured who are stuck in their vehicles out, etc. seen it once in function - fucking amazing.

 

 

>>>Is it really up the different volonteer teams to 1) buy the car and 2) equip them?<<<

 

yes. but most have just the very basic stuff. a stretcher, some pieces of wood to fix broken limbs, maybe some bandages. don't forget - they are not allowed by law to administer anything than first aid.

 

 

 

 

>>>I would imagine it's possible to borrow, rent or buy the car directly from the foundation (just like you can rent tuk-tuks, taxis and even elephants on a daily basis in Bangkok)? My girlfriend, who had close friends work for Por Teck Tung, claims that is the case (but I don't think she really knows...)<<<

 

what you can do is to rent a volonteers car for things such as transporting corpses upcountry (not all though do that).

all emergency and desaster relief services from the poh teck tueng are free (if someone demends money you should note down the number of the car etc. and complain directly with the foundation - such a thing is taken very serious). they poh teck tueng is very conscious of their reputation.

 

 

>>>Furthermore, what exactly do they carry in the cars? Do they have oxygen, morphine etc?<<<

 

only in the ambulances.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

>>>So just to clarify it in my and others minds....are you saying there are no public ambulance services?<<<

 

just from the hospitals, but they do not really have the network to work as a proper emergency service. mostly they are just used to transport injured from one hospital to the other, or have to be called specifically.

 

the good thing with the poh teck tueng is, that during the most accident prone hours of the day, from 8pm to 2am you can count that it will take in bangkok rarely more than 15 minutes that someone of the foundations is at the scene and will bring you for free to any hospital you want to go. and during the other hous it will take only a bit longer as the employees are working 24/7.

 

 

[Guest]

>>>Why hasn't there been any effort to establish a primitive city/county EMS in Bkk?<<<

 

 

you actually should read the thread at hand - there are two foundations in bangkok who do that. the poh teck tueng and the ruamkantanyu.

and almost all provinces have similar services.

as stated many times in this thread here.

 

and other than that - what do you expect? even though the skyscrapers thailand is not the west.

[Torneyboy]

I fly

This unbelievable in a large city like BKK.

No Ambulance/rescue system.....at all!

 

What happens if you have a big accident involving say a bus and a few cars,a fire is also started.

 

 

In my city...A fire truck+fire rescue/police,ambulance+rescue as well.

 

Also fly how do the doctors determine whom has insurance...victim cant talk ID etc lost at the scene and so on?

[Guest]

>>>No Ambulance/rescue system.....at all!<<<

 

 

the foundations are the system, and they are very good in what they are doing, especially given the limitations they have to work under.

in case of fires you have the firedepartment, which is part of the police, and countless volonteers. and those are unbelievably good. i have been at countless slumfires, factory fires, house fires, and having nothing else than admiration for the volonteers.

 

 

 

>>>...victim cant talk ID etc lost at the scene and so on?<<<

 

wrong hospital, wrong duty doctor - tough luck. as i have described in some earlier post, i have seen people dying as a result from duty doctors refusing injured. one died more or less in my lap.

generally though government hospitals have to admit patients (which sometimes they don't), and private hospitals have to stabilise them until they can get transported to another hospital by ambulance (which sometimes they don't).

 

[Straycat]

Hey FOZW thanks for the exhaustive answer!

 

Now I understand the situation much, much better.

 

Would you say that volunteering is a way to eventually secure employment with the foundation? Do you know what they require for a paid job w/ Por Teck Teung or Ruamkatanyoo?

 

Also, I've often seen the blue and orange uniformed present at the scene at the same time (as for example just yesterday around in my neighbourhood where they found a dead body in an abandoned building). -- What is the volunteers task in such a situation?

 

This is a fascinating subject. No doubt these foundations are doing a very important job in this monster-sized city with all it's dangers. -- I hope you don't get tired of all the questions.

 

[Guest]

>>>-- I hope you don't get tired of all the questions. <<<

 

nah, slim chance.

the underbelly of that city and what goes along with it is my playground since ten years or so. love it.

 

 

>>>Would you say that volunteering is a way to eventually secure employment with the foundation? Do you know what they require for a paid job w/ Por Teck Teung or Ruamkatanyoo?<<<

 

most volonteers are actually very happy to just be volonteers, have no aspiration to be anything else. being an employee and a volonteer is very different. a volonteer is a lot more free.

i think one has to have highschool certificate to be an employee, but i don't know exactly. of course the burocratic positions have higher requirements, depending on the job.

working as a poh teck tueng employee is a very sought after job, lots of people want to do that.

 

 

 

>>>-- What is the volunteers task in such a situation?<<<

 

in case of a corpse the volonteers have to assist the police and the employees. duties like chasing gawkers away, securing the area, helping to search and pack up the corpse. the ID treatment (fingerprints and photography) is the job of the employed rescue workers. sometimes they also help the employees sending off the corpse to the morgue.

in the hirarchy the volonteers are below the employees, but of course in practise it is a lot more complicated, especially in the suburban areas. in those areas only the most experienced employees are working as there are a lot of thai specific underlying politics involved. often the employees do function there as negotiators in conflicts, which is a very dangerous position to be in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest lazyphil]

<<and other than that - what do you expect? even though the skyscrapers thailand is not the west>>

 

 

 

I agree and my comment about taxing the bgs to fund it was tongue in cheek (nobody cared to take the piss out of me on this :. But its the governments responsibility to make sure something is in place for its people. I simply cant believe they cant do this, its down to apathy.

 

[Torneyboy]

Hi Fly

 

Thanks for all your answers btw.

Now more questions for you.

 

Are falang tourists in the same boat? no ID etc all at the hotels.

 

So there is a fire dept ...but again many volunteers...but at least fully funded by the city?

 

 

It appears from what you are saying the doctors can take a case or leave one if they choose...no higher admin to be accountable?

 

What happened to the oath the doctors are supposed to be bound by?

 

 

 

[Straycat]

Says flyonzewall:

---

nah, slim chance.

the underbelly of that city and what goes along with it is my playground since ten years or so. love it.

---

 

I would love to go a weekend with a rescue team in Bangkok and experience it all first hand.

 

Three gazillion years ago (or so it feels) back in the West I held a so called 'respectable' career job in a certain part of law enforcement. One of the few perks with the job (other than carrying great status, a decent salary and a 'bright future') was that I could call up the central police precinct in the capital city and schedule to go with the night-shift police patrol over the weekend. Weekend nights in the central part of the capital city is of course when all the worst shit happends.

 

I was the only bureaucrat going with the police on a regular basis in the whole city -- and everytime I thought: "what the fuck am I doing turning papers around at the office five days a week, this is where I'd like to be; in the middle of where it is all taking place..."

 

Slightly off tangent, now back to the Body Snatchers of Bangkok.