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Published on July 26, 2007

Thefts have been proliferating lately, because of the economic doldrums.

One Egat executive told reporters on Tuesday that the thefts had intensified over the past two years. Thieves sell the iron for Bt9 a kilogram.

The black-market price may seem minuscule compared with Egat's giant revenues, but in fact Egat loses Bt100 million a year on unnecessary costs, because the agency must set aside money to buy new iron parts.

Besides this, the thefts can disrupt the flow of electricity, since transmission is conducted on a network system. So far, they have not caused a power blackout, but they can be fatal. Chamnong Wongsawang, Egat's deputy governor for the transmission-system business, said some thieves cut high-voltage transmission lines with a capacity of 115,000 volts, which can be very, very deadly indeed.

Two of the most popular spots are Ayutthaya and Prachin Buri, where metal parts have been stolen many times over a short period.

The government has assigned local administrators to educate metal traders about not accepting stolen wires. These traders may like the cheap loot, but it can have a disastrous impact on people in the neighbourhood.

Closer to home, people who live in Pattanakarn Soi 65 are suffering from the theft of telephone wires, which has been happening frequently of late. Thieves stole wires twice last week.

Our webmaster, who lives in that area, is pleading with the thieves to leave the wires alone, since many depend on telephone connections to work from home.

jeerawat@nationgroup.com