Decorative skirt turned family car into gas chamber

An engineer shows the decorative skirt covering the exhaust outlet at the rear of the Nissan Almera in which three people were found unconscious on an expressway in Chachoengsao province on Sunday. (Photo by Sonthanaporn Inchan)
An engineer shows the decorative skirt covering the exhaust outlet at the rear of the Nissan Almera in which three people were found unconscious on an expressway in Chachoengsao province on Sunday. (Photo by Sonthanaporn Inchan)

CHACHOENGSAO: Engineers have found that a poorly installed decorative "skirt" caused a family on vacation to pass out in their car on an elevated expressway in Bang Pakong district on Sunday.

Engineers from the Land Transport Department checked out the Nissan owned by Thanainan Chueathirapong, 31, in response to a police request.

On Sunday, Mr Thanainan, his 7-year-old daughter and 26-year-old girlfriend were found unconscious in their car, which was stopped on the shoulder of the elevated Bang Na-Bang Pakong expressway. They were on their way from Bangkok to Bang Saen beach in Chon Buri province.

Mr Thanainan was semi-conscious. The two passengers had passed out and were drooling.

After examining the vehicle for two hours, engineer Thawee Metheesupamit said the car had a decorative skirt on all sides, and the rear skirt covered the exhaust pipe outlet.

Consequently, exhaust fumes were trapped under the vehicle and passed into the passenger area through an open hole in the boot.

The hole was normally plugged, but might have been left open when the rear bumper was reinstalled after the decorative skirt was put in place, he said.

Mr Thawee said his team did not find any other defects in the car.

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Vocabulary

  • bumper: a bar fixed to the front and back of a car, etc. to reduce the effect if it hits anything - เครื่องกันชน
  • decorative: decorated in a way that makes it attractive; intended to look attractive or pretty - ซึ่งใช้ตกแต่งหรือประดับประดา, ซึ่งตกแต่งแล้ว
  • defect (noun): a fault in someone or something - ข้อบกพร่อง, จุดอ่อน
  • drool (verb): to like something very much so that your mouth waters, salivate over, slobber over - ปล่อยน้ำลายไหล, ชื่นชอบอย่างยิ่ง
  • exhaust fumes: the waste gas from an engine, especially a car's, or the pipe the gas flows through - ควันท่อไอเสีย
  • passed out: became unconscious - หมดสติ
  • semi-conscious (adj): not fully aware/conscious - ไม่มีสติอยู่อย่างเต็มที่
  • shoulder of the road: the side of the road (that is curved down like a shoulder) -
  • skirt (n): a surface that conceals or protects the wheels or underside of a vehicle or aircraft -
  • unconscious : in a sleeplike condition, usually from an illness or injury - หมดสติ

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