Pattaya Daily News

Ayutthaya, 29 October 2010: All Thailand’s ethnic groups are involved in the current flooding disaster, Thai and foreign, frequently united by tragedy. In the latest incident, a Dutch resident of Ayutthaya and son were electrocuted, Oct28, attempting to salvage electrical kit from their flooded home.

Ayutthaya, world heritage site and ancient capital of Siam, has been hit severely by flooding as the Chao Phraya River continues to swell, fed by Northern runoffs and significant dam releases upstream.

“Houses have actually started to float down the river in the location of U-thong Road,” a somewhat distraught local council official told PDN. He also told PDN the tragic tale of the Dutchman whose luck ran out.

Apparently, Mr. Haros Bussoe [39], a former Dutch navigator, married to a Thai woman, increasingly concerned that the Chao Phraya would break its banks, rushed back to his riverside house to find the kitchen 60cm-deep in water. Intent on salvaging electrical equipment increasingly threatened by the rising water, Mr. Bussoe plunged into the knee-deep flood. He got an electric shock from one of the appliances and as his adopted son, Siriwit Thongsari [15], grabbed his arm, attempting a rescue him, he, too, was electrocuted.

“Mr. Bussoe died from being electrocuted in water, whilst the son was severely injured from the same cause,” Police spokesman Ayutthya Police Deputy Superintendent, Pol.Lt.Col Phicha Rujinam, told reporters.

“And then,” he continued, “Mr. Bussoe’s wife, finding her husband and son lying comatose, called for help from the neighbours. Unfortunately, neighbour Wisit Meesaeng [30] also suffered electrocution when he attempted to extract Messrs Bussoe and Thongsari from the water-filled kitchen.”

Fortunately, another neighbour had the presence of mind to cut the electricity at the main junction box and no more electrocutions occurred. The injured trio were then rescued from the waterlogged kitchen and rushed to Ayutthaya hospital for emergency treatment. Sadly, Mr. Bussoe was d.o.i – dead on arrival, but the other two are recovering.

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Extensive Gallery [ 4 photos ]