As a retired paint-industry professional living in Thailand, I am dismayed at not only the deaths of the Thai workers but also the fact that they died applying a product that should not be used for this type of application.

Water-based products are typically specified for such applications as they not only perform better but are also much safer for the workers to apply.

On a recent trip to Singapore, I noticed underpasses and tunnels being painted and I was amazed that solvent-based products were again being used, instead of water-based paint.

If a motor accident occurs in a tunnel and there is a fire, motorists who survived the accident and fire would struggle to live through the high-alkaline content of the fumes emitted from the burning solvent-based coatings. There are recorded incidents of this occurring in Europe.

Lindsey Wallace (Ms)
Phuket, Thailand