Fisherman Worapong Taengtong’s Unlikely Elevator Shaft Adventure in Pattaya

In a bizarre turn of events at the picturesque Bali Hai Pier in Pattaya, a tale of misjudgment took an unfortunate leap without a splash. Picture this: a seasoned fisherman navigating through life’s choppy waters, only to meet his match not with a fish or a wave, but with an automatic car park elevator shaft. Indeed, the spirited morning of July 6 blessed us with a story that has both eyebrows raised and rescue squads on full alert.

Worapong Taengtong, a 66-year-old fisherman who probably has more fish tales than anyone in Pattaya, found himself at the bottom of a 5-metre deep pit. His recent cataract surgery left him with a vision blurrier than the misty morning sea, and quite unfortunately, he didn’t spot the open maw of the elevator. What was meant to be a casual shortcut to the beach turned into an unforeseen adventure when his world suddenly went vertical, albeit involuntarily.

Our intrepid angler, accompanied by his trusty rod, which perhaps felt forsaken away from actual water, found himself lying at the bottom with a fracture that made climbing ladders utterly unappealing. Those sharp fish hooks probably seemed like teddy bear hugs compared to the cut above his eyebrow. After composing himself on the chilly shaft floor, Worapong’s cries for assistance breached the early morning calm. Rescue workers from the ever-alert Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan unit rushed to his aid, getting him to dust off his gills and back to dry, safe ground before whizzing him off to the hospital for some tendon TLC.

Interestingly enough, the unwelcome shaft dive wasn’t the only escapade in a Pattaya elevator; a few days before, Gopal Dhal, a Burmese teenager, had his night illuminated by more than one kind of flash when a power blackout took him on an unscheduled elevator camp-out. Although he survived without a scratch, the memory of the midnight hour he’d likely trade for uninterrupted snoring.

Impromptu elevator hangouts seem to have become quite the theme in Pattaya. Last year, heavy rains dialed up the drama when a local resident found himself suspended mid-air for hours in total darkness, only to emerge with a newfound appreciation for emergency lighting and adequately functioning lifts.

Meanwhile, in the land where news never sleeps, more stories churned the headlines hot: steel structures hiccupping in Bangkok, a cheeky pair of Iranian tourists dicing with footwear law in Phuket, and weather forecasts that would make Noah’s ark look relevant all over again. Amongst the deluge of grim headlines—students making ill-advised juice selections or heartbreaking tales of dashed savings—our fisherman’s misstep reminds us of the lighter side of calamity. Thankfully, his story concludes with more bandages than tragedy.

As the Pattaya echoes with laughter and not just the sound of lapping waves, the authorities mull over tweaking guidelines at local parking spots to avoid more seniors and their rods from going where no rod should ever need to rescue a man. Happy endings may swim differently here, but one thing’s for sure: the catch today involves more than just fish. Here’s to better vision, safe lifts, and more tales on the right gravel than under it!