Going for a Lomo type look...will probably get slated again, but then masochism runs in my family;) I couldn't even see this madman through the lens when I shot it, so I was amazed to see him so clearly on the PC. I couldn't get any closer without paying to go in...maybe next time.
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Broken bearing at Pattaya Park Tower leaves tourist dangling 10-stories up
She passed out with fear before being rescued
Vichan Pladplueng
Twenty-three year old Suwannee Klairung from Ang-Thong Province fainted with fear last week when a broken bearing at Pattaya Park Tower left her dangling in the tower sling 10-stories above the ground.
It took technicians over 20 minutes to engage the manual override as horrified friends watched. It took another 10 minutes to safely get her to the ground.
Suwannee Klairung fainted with fear when a broken bearing at Pattaya Park Tower left her dangling in the tower sling 10-stories above the ground.
Surapon Chareonsuppon, the managing director of the Pattaya Park Hotel, said that the accident was caused by a ball bearing cartridge breaking, which caused the whole system to automatically stop.
He said the machine does have a manual system for safety reasons, which was put into effect during this crises. The reason for the 30 minutes delay in bringing the woman to the ground, he said, was that the engineering team wanted to take every precaution in ensuring her safety.
The next morning, May 28, Mayor Pairat Suttithamrongsawat took city engineering department officials with him to investigate the situation and found that the engineering team of the hotel had already replaced all damaged parts and conducted a thorough check to make sure it was up to required standards. Engineering staff rode the sling to test it.
The mayor then ordered officials of the hotel to provide him with a legal document from the engineering department of the company that makes the machine to prove it is safe, and stressed that engineers at the hotel should perform an annual check up. The mayor said he will come to witness the annual check up.
Mayor Pairat Suttithamrongsawat took city engineering department officials with him to investigate the situation and found that the engineering team of the hotel had replaced all damaged parts.
Before anyone can ride the sling, or either of the other two high-wire rides, he or she has to sign a waiver in both Thai and English releasing the hotel from any liability for injury or death caused by any type of accident on any of the three rides.
The victim, Suwannee Klairung, had come to Pattaya to have a holiday with four friends. Her friends said that things started out normally when Suwannee began her ride from the top of the tower, which is about 170 meters from the ground. Unfortunately at the half-way point things went horribly wrong when her ride stalled in the middle of the line. She was stuck in the air, unable to get to the ground or return to the starting point. Seeing her predicament, she fainted.
Thirty-minutes later when she was finally rescued, the rescue team whisked her off to an ICU unit at Memorial Hospital.
Noppadol Buathong, general manager of the Pattaya Park Hotel said that this is the first time anything like this has ever happened. He said the Tower rides have been drawing a huge number of tourists for over 5 years, and have never had a problem.
However, last October one of the elevators at the Pattaya Park Beach Hotel dropped five stories when its overload system malfunctioned. Seventeen passengers had squeezed into the elevator, which is only rated to hold eleven. No one was seriously hurt, but all 17 suffered various minor injuries.
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