3 replies to this topic

[Sexpat]

"The Santika Club, which became a deadly inferno in the first hour of Jan 1, was a deathtrap due to hazardous materials inside and a lack of safety equipment, an engineering expert says.

Pitchaya Chantranuwat, head of the building safety sub-committee of the Engineering Institute of Thailand, made the assessment after inspecting the debris of Santika on Soi Ekamai yesterday with crime scene investigators and public works officials from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

Mr Pitchaya said the pub lacked basic equipment to deal with a fire, including emergency lamps, fire exit signs and sprinklers. The three exits for its area of about 400 square metres were insufficient to deal with 400 guests, he said. Had it had sufficient sprinklers, emergency lights and more prominent fire exit signs, revellers could have escaped and survived the fire, Mr Pitchaya said. The main gate of the pub was 2.18 metres wide.In case of fire, the door would be adequate for just 200 people to escape, he said.

Mr Pitchaya also said there were a large number of highly inflammable materials in the pub such as fibreglass, resin and plastic.The pub's walls were lined with polystyrene. When the material caught fire, it emitted toxic gases that caused victims to pass out, he added.

Vicharn Peawnim, a forensic doctor at Ramathibodi Hospital, said carbon monoxide, which was a toxic gas, was the main cause of deaths in the pub fire. The gas replaces oxygen in blood, so many victims died when their brains were deprived of oxygen, he said. It would be easier to treat burnt skin than to treat people who inhaled toxic gases, the doctor said."

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/9188...trap'antika Clun was a

[Hedda]

Apparently, it's not enough that experts have concluded that this place was a deathtrap, as the basis for bringing criminal charges against all those responsible for the tragedy.

According to the National News Bureau of Thailand:

"The Minister of Justice is preparing to form a committee to investigate facts behind the fire incidents at Santika Pub and Sua Pa Plaza and aid those affected." http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...20Santika%20Pub

Let's hope this isn't the same committee that's supposed to be bringing criminal actions against the PAD mob leaders for the illegal seizures of Government House and the airport. If that's sounds cynical to you, it does to me too. TIT.

[Harold]

Appointing a committee means nothing will happen. They just want to buy time so that everyone will forget
about it. That what appears to have happened in that fire in Royal Jomtien Hotel in 1997, in which 91 people died. If you want to read a hair-raising report in a US fire-fighting journal about that fire, and why so many people never even made it out of the ground floor, see: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3737/is_/ai_n8783623

Incidentally, I visited two bars this past weekend in Pattaya and I could not find any exits or exit signs other than the one I entered through. I wonder if the laws in Pattaya even require fire emergency exits other than one entrance door.

[Bob]

The government determining now that Santika was a deathtrap is about the same as the government indicting itself for its worthlessness in the first place.