About work

The steel joint safety inspection they performed was a small but important part of the operation utilizing the latest in advanced technologies.

Recently, the Chili mine disaster and rescue operation quickly esclated into a major international media event as well as a trending topic on Twitter.

A team of highly skilled technicians rescued miners trapped deep beneath the earth in a Chili mine.

Two members of the international rescue team were from Thailand.

To make ensure safe operation of the rescue equipment, these technicians inspected steel joints.

Like the more well-known job of welding this job is classified as a metal technology job.

Requiring hard to find specialized knowledge and skills, this job is likely to be in-demand and well-paid.

However, such a job may not be attractive to students searching for a career, because it requires difficult manual labour in outdoor or factory settings instead of comfortable air-conditioned offices.

Nonetheless, this duo of skilled Thai workers surely qualifies as a role model for aspiring job seekers.

Their story also provides some important lessons for students planning their studies and future careers.

Click button to listen to Chili Mine Rescue and rightclick to download

CHILE MINE MIRACLE, Thai rescuers come home, Technicians proud to be part of world-class effort by Apinya Wipatayotin

Two Thai technicians have returned from Chile brimming with pride after being part of the historic operation to rescue 33 miners trapped in a gold and copper mine for 69 days.

We were excited when we saw the first miner coming out and proud [of the mission]," said Sompong Pongkanya after arriving at Singapore airport yesterday.

Mr Sompong and his colleague, Wachirapong Nasaree, from Metalogic Inspection Services based in Rayong were among almost 1,000 rescue workers who took part in the operation to rescue the miners after the San Jose mine in Copiapo, Chile, collapsed on Aug 5, trapping them in a small pocket.

The two worked in Chile earlier this year for a pipeline examination project for six months. The firm decided their "work ethic and attitude" was pivotal to the pair working on the project, a company's statement said.

Mr Sompong, a 32-year-old native of Bangkok, and Mr Wachirapong, 28, from Ubon Ratchathani, arrived at the mine on Sept 26. The first miner, Florencio Avales, was brought to the surface on Oct 13.

The two were assigned by the company to inspect and test the steel reinforcement sleeve to be installed in the rescue shaft to ensure there would be no mishaps during the recovery.

If you ask me whether it was difficult, I would say the task was not difficult," Mr Wachirapong said

But the work was [undertaken] under immense pressure

If there was only a tiny mistake, it would shut down an opportunity to help the victims.

We can say that we exercised extreme caution on this job.

Mr Sompong said that being part of the multinational team on the historic mission was a precious experience, which made him realise that unity was key to achieving the task.

At the site, there were many top experts from different fields coming from world-class companies," he said.

But under the circumstances, they had only one mission - to help those miners.

There was no colour there. What you found there was unity.

Mr Sompong graduated with a diploma in metal technology from Rajamangala Institute of Technology, Bangkok Technical campus, in 1999. Mr Wachirapong received a Bachelor's degree in science with a major in physics from Rajabhat University in 2002.

The two joined Metalogic Inspection Services in 2008.

Sukjai Kitikiatsophon, marketing manager of Metalogic Inspection Services, said the company had the most reliable technology to inspect steel joints using ultrasonic technology, which is four times faster than X-ray techniques. There is also no radioactive exposure.

The technique perfectly matches with the requirements, which need fast and accurate technology on maximum safety examination," Mr Sukjai said.

(Source: Bangkok Post, CHILE MINE MIRACLE, Thai rescuers come home, Technicians proud to be part of world-class effort, Apinya Wipatayotin, 21/10/2010, link)


technician - someone with specialized technical training so that they can work with special equipment or machines นายช่าง
specialized - doing or performing a very narrow or limited task, that requires special expert skills or knowledge ชำนัญพิเศษ
welding - the job of joining to together metal and making strong joints to join them (See Wikipedia) การเชื่อม
joint - a joining or connecting together of two things, such as metal welded together เชื่อมติดกัน
steel joint - a joint joining together two metal things
trapped - to be in a dangerous or unpleasant situation from which it is difficult or impossible to escape ถูกกับดัก
ensure - to make certain, to make sure that something happens or exists
disaster - a very bad event such as a storm, earthquake or floods that causes a lot of damage and kills people ความพินาศ
rescue - to save someone from a dangerous situation ช่วยชีวิต
escalate - get bigger and become more important
media event -  an event that happens that the attention of TV and newspapers (the media) who come in large numbers to report on the event (See Wikipedia)
Twitter - a "social networking" website and service in which people send and read short messages they send to the group of people "following" them, like an SMS or texting message these messages are limited to 140 letters or characters (See Wikipedia)
social networking - a social network service is an online service that focuses on building social networks and social relations among people who share the same interests and/or activities or belog to the same family. "A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services...Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks" (See Wikipedia)
trending topic - a popular topic on Twitter repeated (retweeted) over and over again, usually by using "hash tags" that look like this: #thisisahottopic (See Wikipedia)
inspect - to look at something carefully to make sure it is correct and good enough ตรวจสอบ
metal -  hard materials used to make tools, machines, weapons, also conducts electricity well so used in electronics โลหะ  (See Wikipedia)
metal technology - methods and techniques for working with metals; cutting, joining and forming metal pieces
in-demand - lots of people want the service or product you offer
well-paid - receive a lot of money for the work they do (high wage, high salary)
manual - working with your hands

duo - two people doing some activity together
X qualifies as Y - have everything or do everything that is needed to called or regarded as Y (example: after studying and training for many years the woman qualifies as a doctor)
role model - a person whose life or example is considered to be great and thus should be copied or imitated by other people  ผู้ซึ่งมีลักษณะควรค่าแก่การเป็นแบบอย่างให้กับผู้อื่น
aspiring - wanting to be something or achieve some goal in the future

effort - an attempt to do something ความพยายาม
brimming - to be full of something (example: the river was brimming full of water, ready to overflow)
pride - feeling good when you achieve something special ความภาคภูมิใจ
copper - a metal (See Wikipedia)
proud - feeling happy about what you have done, achieved or have  ภูมิใจ
mission - an important job, especially a military one, that someone is sent somewhere to do งาน
colleague - someone who works in the same organisation or department as you do เพื่อนร่วมงาน
collapsed - fallen down ล้ม ทิ้งตัวลง
pocket - a small area within a large area (here: a pocket of air and free space after a mine collapse)
firm - a company บริษัท
work ethic - the belief that working hard at your job is a good thing and the practice of working hard and diligently (See Wikipedia)
attitude - the way you think and feel about something, as shown in behaviour
pivotal - the central or most important thing or person in a situation
native - someone who was born in a particular place ชาวพื้นเมือง
surface - on the ground, on the earth (not deep under the earth in a mine)
inspect - to look at something carefully ตรวจสอบ
reinforcement - the process of making something stronger เสริมให้แข็งแรง
recovery - to get something back that you lost (here: to get the miners who were trapped in the mine)
reinforce (verb) - to make stronger
reinforcement (noun) - something that makes another thing stronger
sleeve - something that covers and protects something (example: a metal tube that protects a machine, the sleeves of a shirt that protect your arms, a book sleeve to protect your book from dust)
steel reinforcement sleeve - a metal protective cover made out of steel
rescue - to save a person from a dangerous situation (examples: rescue workers from a mine, rescue people from a sinking ship)
shaft - a long narrow passage or hole from surface or ground level to down deep in a mine
ensure - to make certain that something happens or is done รับรอง, ให้ความมั่นใจ, ให้การยืนยัน รับรอง
mishap - a small mistake or accident

task - a piece of work that someone does หน้าที่
undertaken - done
immense - extremely large มหึมา มหาศาล
pressure - when people are being pushed or forced to so something, stress, cannot live comfortably (difficult decisions must be made) ความกดดัน ความตึงเครียด
opportunity - a situation when it is possible to do something that you want to do (See glossary)
victims - people who are killed injured or harmed in some way from an accident, natural disaster, crime, etc.
extreme - much more severe or serious than usual ที่ร้ายแรงมาก, ที่รุนแรงที่สุด
exercise extreme caution - being very careful in doing a task
multinational team - a team with people from many different countries working together \
mission - people sent to a place to perform tasks (example: a diplomatic to discuss a peace treaty between the two warring states)
historic mission - a mission that is so important that it will become part of history
precious - of great value มีค่า,ล้ำค่า, ที่มีค่าสูงส่ง
experience - a situation that you are involved in, somethiing that happens to you (that you may learn and gain knowledge and skills from) ประสบการณ์
realise - to know about ตระหนัก รู้
key - the important thing (that solves a problem) สำคัญ

world-class - in the group of things that have the highest quality in the world
site - a place where something happened สถานที่
circumstances - situation, conditions in which we live

reliable - works and behaves the way you expect เชื่อถือได้, ไว้ใจได้
ultrasonic technology - ultrasound, sound at a frequency higher than humans can hear, used for a variety of purposes, such as cleaning things and looking inside the body for medical diagnosis, testing and even welding (See Wikipedia)
X-ray - like radio waves, an invisible form of electromagnetic radiation all around us, used in the common medical X-ray technology in doctor's office to take a photo inside your body to see what is wrong, for example to X-ray and look at broken bones (See Wikipedia)
techniques - methods of doing a task or activity เทคนิค
radioactive - containing radiation, a harmful form of energy produced during nuclear reactions found in places such as power plants (See Wikipedia)
exposure - not covered or protected from harm, runs a risk of being harmed
accurate - correct, exact and without any mistakes ถูกต้อง, แม่นยำ
maximum - the most possible ที่สูงสุด ที่มากที่สุด