Worker killed by 'electric shock while sleeping with charging phone on chest'

A worker was killed when he suffered an electric shock from his phone that was resting on his chest as it charged.

Wanchai, 30, had been texting his friends before plugging in his phone at the workers' quarters in a rubber plantation in Rayong.

He drifted off to sleep with the phone resting against his body while it charged through exposed electrical wires.

But he reportedly suffered a fatal electric shock as the current travelled from the charger into the handset, zapping him to death as he slept.

Police were called to his room in Khao Samrong village on May 15, after relatives found him lifeless and covered in ants inside the property.

Officers discovered burn marks on the left side of his neck and estimated he had been dead for at least six to eight hours.

A cracked mobile phone was found on top of his body. It was still plugged into an electrical charger connected to a power source through exposed wires.

Investigators believe the deceased was electrocuted while using the device as it charged.

Wanchai's younger brother Bancha said the labourer regularly drank alcohol and spent evenings chatting on his phone.

He said: 'I warned him many times not to charge the phone directly from the outlet. Before he died, he messaged me saying he had been electrocuted by the charger before. He couldn't make calls because the phone would shock him.

'I told him to complain to the phone seller. Later, when I couldn't contact him, I went to his room and found him dead.'

Police recorded the scene and sent the body for a post-mortem exam.

Police Lieutenant Pitakpong Wongpithak, the investigating officer, said: 'Mr. Wanchai and his younger brother were poor. We decided to donate 3,000 baht to the family, to help with the funeral expenses. Then, rescue workers transported the body to Wat Khao Samrong temple for the funeral rites.'

On August 13, a Buddhist monk was electrocuted after rolling onto a plugged-in phone charger while sleeping at a temple in southern Thailand.

Phra Chanin Wongsuphanichakun, 52, was found dead face-down in his room at Wat Pradittharam temple in Nakhon Si Thammarat, with the charger and extension cord beneath his body.

Police said he had likely been dead for several hours before his body was sent for a post-mortem examination.