Thailand going nuclear

From the moment the words Thailand and nuclear were said in the same sentence, the web forums simply lit up in panic. Not because Thailand would pose a serious nuclear threat to the world, but because of their past and continuing habits of how Thais act when things suddenly head south.

There are countless examples of how Thai people just up and run when things go wrong. It certainly seems etched deep into the Thai culture or some other driving force. From the basics of taking on parental responsibilities of children they fathered, to taking responsibility for a motor vehicle accident. In nearly every accident report in the news, the last few words are ‘the driver fled the scene. Very simply the problem is chronic.

So with that thought in mind, lets assume the worst scenario. Imagine that suddenly a bunch of red lights and alarms started blaring in a nuclear power plant control room signaling the onset of a major nuclear catastrophe that would rival the Chernobyl disaster. The first image in nearly everyone’s mind who knows Thais is the Thais at the control would have planned for such an event and would have purchased the fastest motorbikes available to get far away as fast as possible. Although this may sound cruel and degrading to the Thais, there has been no behavioral evidence to support other outcomes.

Now certainly some may say that type of disaster is unlikely and that several automated safety precautions are in place. But that brings up the second point that sends chills and fears of dread to others. If anyone has ever watched a building project in Thailand, they will note the two steps forward and one step back building methods. New builds are torn down a day after they were put up simply because they were wrong and did not follow the building plans. So that simply says there are a lot of problems in how Thais build things.

Admittedly they do look nice and esthetically pleasing, but there is little doubt there are several flaws that were never caught or corrected that were simply covered up with plaster or other finishing materials. The phrase often spoken in Thailand is ‘Don’t worry about it’, and that spells potential disaster when it comes to building a nuclear facility.

Buildings in Thailand that follow strict western building codes simply take forever to be built. A project build that was earmarked for a 2 year project time seems to take 3 to 5 years to complete. Up that building code requirement for a nuclear facility, and what may be a 5 year build project may be done in 10 to 15 years if not longer. By then the early part of the build will be due for inspection based simply on age.

The desire to go nuclear and be self sufficient is a good idea and makes sense. It allows the freedom from gas and oil that will be climbing in price, and that freedom is a good thing. But the Thai habit of running when things go wrong, and the very high possibility of hidden flaws resulting in a shoddy build simply sends a panic and triggers a survival response to those who know better. It is a disaster waiting to happen with a significantly higher chance of it happening based on how Thais act.


Comments are closed.