Volunteer Electrocuted Cutting Storm-Fallen Tree in Samut Sakhon
A 50-year-old gas delivery worker in Samut Sakhon was electrocuted while helping a friend cut branches from a mango tree that had fallen on live power lines after a storm. The victim entered the water around the downed tree before the power was shut off at the transformer. Provincial Electricity Authority officials confirmed the line was still energized when he began cutting, and his body was recovered only after power was fully disconnected.
A 50-year-old gas delivery worker was electrocuted to death while volunteering to help his older friend cut down a mango tree that had fallen on power lines during a storm. The incident occurred on November 3 in a swampy area behind a gas station on Bang Pla Road, Moo 4, Ban Ko Subdistrict, Mueang District, Samut Sakhon Province.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Jireth Phraamnoi, Deputy Inspector of Investigation at Mueang Samut Sakhon Police Station, was notified of the electrocution and inspected the scene with forensic officers, Provincial Electricity Authority staff, and rescuers from the Samut Sakhon Charitable Foundation. The site was about 300 meters on foot from the road, near a few residential homes. A mango tree had toppled onto power lines at the edge of a pond, and the victim's body was found lying face-up with the lower half submerged in water, covered by mango branches.
Rescuers could only retrieve the body after Provincial Electricity Authority staff confirmed the power had been completely cut off. The body was sent for an autopsy at Samut Sakhon Hospital before being released to relatives for funeral rites. Preliminary examination found burn marks on the victim's left hand consistent with electrocution, with no signs of foul play.
The deceased was identified as 50-year-old Kiattisak, a gas delivery worker who lived near the scene. According to his 58-year-old friend Prasit, they had gone to cut the tree that had fallen on power lines during a windstorm the previous evening, causing a power outage at Prasit's house. Prasit said he told Kiattisak he would go cut the power at the transformer first, while Kiattisak said he would start trimming the smaller branches. When Prasit returned from switching off the transformer, Kiattisak was gone. After calling out with no response, Prasit continued cutting branches until one fell and revealed what looked like a doll in the water — which turned out to be Kiattisak, dead from electrocution.
Provincial Electricity Authority officials stated that Kiattisak was likely electrocuted the moment he began cutting branches, as the severed power line was still live. He was within the electrical current's effective radius, while Prasit, who had walked through the water earlier, was outside that radius and escaped unharmed.
