New men revolting Crop circles Local sports ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE FOR THE EXPAT IN ALL OF US What’s happening, and might be happening, in Hua Hin
English corner
Trucking Hell!
Town centre power lines put at risk by bizarre accident HUA HIN, THAILAND A dozy tipper truck driver nearly plunged the town into yet another power cut on Monday while delivering building materials to a construction site on Phetkasem Road. Power lines were stretched to their limit, and a temporary supporting pylon was bent over as the daffy driver entangled the back tipping section of his truck with the power cables. The truck had just been delivering sand and other loose materials to the site, where a new condominium block is being built. A common way the drivers operate is to reverse into position, tip the back to start delivering the materials onto the ground, and then edge forward to shake the remaining material out. Unfortunately for this Thai Frank Spencer, he did not look up and spot the cables above the truck, and he drove forward just a little too far and the cables hooked under the already tipped up rear flatbed. Still not realising the predicament he was getting into, and presumably unaware of anyone shouting at him to stop, he then exacerbated the problem by, yes, you guessed it, trying to bring the rear bed down to the base of the truck again! As can be seen by the pho-
tograph, this had the calamitous effect of not lowering the bed to the truck, but RAISING the truck cab up to the tipper bed! With the power cables straining, and the metal pylon bending, the obvious course of action would be to reverse the process, but it is apparent that the effort of raising the cab rather than lowering the bed, broke the mechanism to do so. Now with the hapless driver stranded in his cab 15 feet in the air, and the power cables and pylon only just holding on, quick thinking construction workers raced in
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24 October 08
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