Bangkok laser perils...

[Benm]

I am travelling in asia a bit at the moment... and found something pretty worrysome in bangkok: Street vendors are selling those 'kaleidoscopic' 50 mW-ish pointers on the street for $10-ish, and there seems to be quite a demand for them.

Many tourists find out that the grating comes off quite easily and are shooting the beams all over the place, sometimes so badly you almost have to duck in bars and clubs to avoid taking a hit to the eye.

Worst part of it is that the people selling them have no idea at all that they can be dangerous - i think its an accident waiting to happen around here.

 

[LSR]

funny thing is im in bangkok now on holiday, as you do being a laser enthusiast you go around like your a stranger to lasers, i was offered a 5000mw blue for 500 dollars, haha , its the 1000mw 445 they sell on dx.
i was also shown a ' 1watt green' in a pen , she wanted 300 dollars for it. she also showed me it lighting a match , she held the match about half an inch away from the laser , resulting in the power being decreased . didnt tell her that though