Bangkok History Highlight: The Samut Prakan Radiation Incident [Season 4, Episode 8]

Greg tells the true story of the ‘Samut Prakan Radiation Incident,’ which happened in Thailand in 2000. A piece of medical equipment that contained the highly radioactive isotope Cobalt 60 was improperly disposed of, and after a series of transactions ended up in the hands of everyday trash collectors. Unaware of its true nature, the men cut open the container with an acetylene torch, unwittingly releasing deadly radiation into the atmosphere. 

Those involved soon started showing up at local clinics with strange burns and other mysterious symptoms. Thankfully, the doctors were on the ball, and soon realized they had a full-blown nuclear incident on their hands. After alerting authorities, the Thai Government office in charge of atomic safety jumped into high gear to stop things from going from bad to way, way worse.

Greg and Ed dig into the significance of the incident and how it resulted in improved regulations, agreeing that even though lives were lost, Bangkok was very lucky to avoid a much broader tragedy. 

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