Decal: guy carrying woman?

[Spitfire]

I think that the hospitals pay these "Rescue" wagons a cut/flat-rate for bringing an accident victim to the hospital, even though a hospital has its own ambulance that may not get called or arrive quickly enough. The rescue wagons will often basically ask where do you want to be taken, relative to your wallet, and I think it's just a race between the rescue wagons to get there first. You even sometimes see an official ambulance from one hospital taking a victim to a rival hospital as the victim can't afford the hospital from which the ambulance is from, but the ambulance still gets a fee for delivering them to that hospital compared to the final bill or it's just a flat-rate.

I think that's how these rescue wagons earn their money, by delivering customers to the private hospitals and since the 30 baht health scheme then it has probably got more competitive. The above might explain why the rescue wagons have fought at accident sites or "turf" of which district an accident happens in as it maybe involves a couple of thousand baht a time.

More often than not I'd call them "collect" wagons or "body snachers" as I have seen them in action and hope I never have any of them turn up at an accident I was involved in.

I'm not sure if they are even regulated much or not or what the regulations are to qualify for being a "rescue" wagon. Maybe I don't want to know as it would probably be disappointingly disturbing.

[Nereus]

There used to be a Falang in Bangkok in one of the rescue organisations,
he may still be there.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/091108_Spect ... spec20.php

[Chas]

Nereus, that is an amazing article.

As I read it it, I kept shaking my head and saying to myself,"Only in Thailand."

Here in Hua Hin, isn't there an ongoing tussle between the govt hospital and San Paulo ambulances?

Any signs of the Por Tek Tung organization here at all? . ..other than the ubiquitous stickers of course.

So altruism is not the motive after all, but greed. ( Why am I not surprised.)

Back to that sticker, no wonder it shows the guy walking away from the viewer so as not to show his face. And the meaning is closer to, "I'm lucky . .I got my prize!" than we might like to think.


.

[Terry]

Too true Chas - only in Thailand.

Several years ago, Mrs.T & I were staying in a Bangkok hotel that caught fire.

First to arrive - body snatchers
Second BIB
Third - Fire brigade with a pickup truck and non working pump

Needless to say chaos ensued and guess what - all the rooms were stripped of valuables - even the minibars emptied.

I love living in Thailand but this aspect of life here is one of the few things that just makes my blood boil.

Altruism? - nope - it don't make money!

[STEVE G]

At least the body-snatchers turn up, even if for ulterior motives.
In Jakarta often the first to arrive at a traffic accident was a TV crew who would then calmly stand by their van and film people desperately trying to flag down a taxi to get victims to the hospital.

[Chas]

I brought this thread back to life because I have seen these guys at the Palm Hills exit to Petchkasem most nights for the last few weeks.

I think it is the Por Tek Tung guys because I see orange jumpsuits and something like an emergency vehicle parked there. This is a reminder of their "services" that I dont appreciate. .and it is something that tends to hover in the mind.

Now, we have established that they are terrific with dead bodies!

Hey, they do a nasty task with alacrity and make a tidy sum doing so. Wonderful service to the public and all that . .plus they get the chance to strike it big with wallets, cell phones and other valuables previously in the possession of the deceased who obviously has no further use for such things. So what exactly is my problem here?

Well, does anyone know how they deal with the injured? Do they have any EMT training at all? Do they have such equipment as oxygen, bandages, "jaws of life" or knowledge of how to deal with a potential broken back or neck . ..stuff like that.

Heaven forbid any of us ( anybody, really) has to find this out the hard way, and I dont need to be told that TIT and even if you are injured you are on your own so just call a cab . .but is there any similarity at all between EMS first responders in the US ( I dont know about other countries) and these guys in Por Tek Tung?

Might extend this question to the ambulance guys from either of our hospitals too. Do they get EMT training, is either of them a nurse perchance . . .or are they just drivers with a penchant for making a lot of noise and driving a vehicle with pretty lights . . .wait a minute, that describes half the drivers in Thailand!.

[Super Joe]

Think it's the hospitals and government health authority that should be criticised, they create these guys.

Wonder how much training and equipment they are provided with by the above two ?

Wonder how many lives they've saved by getting people to hospital quickly ? Ofcourse they must also do a lot of damage by just lifting people that shouldn't be, but that comes back to training and equipment.

Wonder how many times they've been given any 'thank you' money by those they've got to hospital quickly ?

Ofcourse that doesn't justify stealing, but they're welcome to my wallet and mobile phone if it means I don't have to lay there bleeding to death waiting for an ambulance to turn up a week next Tuesday.

Think we should give 'em a bit of a break, at least until the people responsible for providing the service, provides it.

SJ

[Chas]

I really think these guys created themselves though. They saw an opportunity and, no fools, they jumped at it. .and they appear to be expanding their territory to Hua Hin.

As far as the Government Health authority or San Paulo spending money . .cold day in hell comes to mind. Wait for the authorities to provide the service? Three words for you there . . TIT.

SJ, we seem to be, as with many things here in Thailand, stuck with a status quo that wont change in our lifetimes if ever . .and I am simply trying to get a bit more information, not trying to find a place to put the blame.

I am not faulting their getting bodies to the hospitals as fast as they can. That is the focus of their operation from what I gather and they do it well.

I am asking (if anyone knows or has a source for this information) just what is the level of qualification for the Por Tek Tung guys ( if any) what basic equipment do thay have ( if any) and is the only qualification simply that they can drive fast?

Since any one of us here is only a heartbeat away from a bad accident, especially at this time of year, it might be comforting to discover that they DO have some EMT training. It might be nice to know which ambulance routinely carries a nurse or which hospital has the better emergency room.

If, heaven forbid, you are injured in an accident and three emergency teams show up . . .PTT, San Paulo and Hua Hin Hospital . . . which would you choose to go with and why? Seems like important information that might save a life.

[Super Joe]

and I dont need to be told that TIT

Wait for the authorities to provide the service? Three words for you there . . TIT.

SJ

[Chas]

Yes, This Is Thailand . .and your point is?

[Super Joe]

Yes, This Is Thailand . .and your point is?

It wasn't my point it was yours, you revived the thread asking not to be told TIT only to sarcastically reply in your very next post ... "Three words for you there . . TIT".

Three words for you Chas ....... 'We're not your students' ...... Doh! that's four words. Was never that good at maths

Anyway squabbling apart, my apologies for that, found out the following:
History:
Founded early in the last century by Chinese immigrants, Por Tek Tung began by providing free funeral services to the destitute. As Thailand developed and industrialized, however, the group's efforts turned to collecting the dead from car wrecks, airplane crashes, floods, suicides and murder scenes.

A report from a few years back:
Only 32 out of thousand's of it's members are on full-time salaries, the rest are volunteers (the one’s that steal I guess). The foundation provides it's services free of charge, relying entirely on donations from the community. Employees are given 110 hours of government training in basic first aid, there are no doctors, no paramedics, no medically trained professionals and no life-saving equipment in Por Tek Tung vehicles.

From a Doctor at a Bangkok Hospital:
"The body snatchers often have no medical knowledge," said Dr. Somchai Kanchanasut, director of the Rajavithi Hospital's emergency medical services center. "But they always arrive first in Bangkok, and we are trying to teach them how to transport people better."
Dr. Somchai's center is one of only two medical emergency transport centers in Bangkok. With just 35 advanced life support system ambulances serving Bangkok's 5.8 million people, there is only one ambulance for every 165,000 people. This compares with a level of one advanced life support vehicle for every 10,000 people in most developed countries.

"An ambulance sent out for someone with chest pains will arrive half an hour after they died of a heart attack," Dr. Somchai said.

So it seems they're given minimal training by hospitals or health authority, given no salaries, encouraged by the hospitals to bring the injured to them, arrive at the scene ages before an ambulance. But they steal mobile phones and gold necklaces

Personally I lay the fault and responsibility at the door of the hospitals and health authority.

SJ

[Rider]

I was in a bump and tumble accident in Sin City a while back - Taxi turned into my path at normal speeds.

Within 4 minutes the body snatchers showed up, I had no control over where the old lady in the accident was to be taken and guess what? It was the most expensive place in the effin' city!

12k baht was what they charged me for one day of x rays + b&b for the old lady.
That was the first and last time on that one for me
They certainly earned a pretty penny on that one!

[Super Joe]

I was in a bump and tumble accident in Sin City a while back - Taxi turned into my path at normal speeds.
Within 4 minutes the body snatchers showed up, I had no control over where the old lady in the accident was to be taken and guess what? It was the most expensive place in the effin' city!

12k baht was what they charged me for one day of x rays + b&b for the old lady.
That was the first and last time on that one for me
They certainly earned a pretty penny on that one!

Take your point Rider and I would be pi$$ed too (unless the person was in a serious way), presumably they go to the expensive hospitals as they get bigger kick-backs!!

But swings & roundabouts, I think we'd welcome them turning up in just 4 minutes and going to the better hospitals if it was us, or a loved one. They've clearly got their faults, steal and do what they do purely for self-interest and I bet their eyes light up when they see a farang, but I'd rather the service there (with all it's faults) than the alternative, which I think would be a long long wait.

Great reports from the Bike meet btw

SJ

[Chas]

Personally I lay the fault and responsibility at the door of the hospitals and health authority.

And just when can we expect either or both of these entities to:
a. recognize that there is a problem with the status quo
b. come up with an alternative plan
c. spend the money to implement a "real" ambulance service with EMTs in attendance etc

Place the blame where you like, but it is not going to change the way Thailand has developed, the way the Thai people live their lives and in general the way it is here in Thailand.

The only point of my involvement in this thread at all is to find out more about what we actually have here in Hua Hin for emergency services, how they compare, what experiences people have had etc. Seems to me like valuable information for all of us to have.

Change here? I dont think so. (Hey, we cant even get movies in English.)

[Super Joe]

Personally I lay the fault and responsibility at the door of the hospitals and health authority.

And just when can we expect either or both of these entities to:
a. recognize that there is a problem with the status quo
b. come up with an alternative plan
c. spend the money to implement a "real" ambulance service with EMTs in attendance etc
Place the blame where you like, but it is not going to change the way Thailand has developed, the way the Thai people live their lives and in general the way it is here in Thailand.

Change here? I dont think so. (Hey, we cant even get movies in English.)

I do not expect them to change Chas. I have never posted or asked them to change, I wouldn't presume to be so arrogant as to do so. I Know my 'place' here as a foreigner and am comfortable with it. And it doesn't involve whineing and whingeing over the language of movies in the local cinema

SJ