Swedes Burns Down Bungalow Village In Koh Lanta

[george]

Swedes burns down bungalow village in Koh Lanta

Damage claims for 15 million Baht

KOH LANTA: A swedish couple in their thirties, are under investigation for burning down a holiday village at Koh Lanta in Thailand on Saturday night.

20 bungalows and a restaurant was destroyed in the fire, probably caused

by a forgotten candle in their bungalow while they were asleep.

The Swedish couple has to pay around 15 Million Baht to be released, according to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

About 40 tourists fled for their lives to escape the fire. No persons are reported injured.

Full story here, updated 8pm Bangkok Time

--Thaivisa.com 2004-02-23

Edited February 23, 2004 by george

[adjan jb]

A forgotten candle...

Or a forgotten joint ... The most expensive joint that was ever smoked

[ELVIS]

if a village can burn completely by the flame of one candle,it means it is a verry

dangerous place to stay!

The owner of that village makes tourist to come there,and so put their life at stake,

just to make a good profit?

Who is the initial resposible ,who makes it possible that such events can happen?

Who is responsible for the obvious lack of safety?

Why is he not insured ?

It's his own candle that lit the fire !

He's the sole and only responsible for this accident !

Good thing is that the whole dangerous place burned down,so it is safe again !

Lucky there where no victims !

[Up2U]

There are two victims - the Swedes who are expected to pay for this - rather than the insurance company. (A part of Shin Corp? ?

[Pink Mist]

thats one story that should begin with "once upon a time"

I think Elvis has a point the place must have been a death trap, if that story was correct.

[somboon]

Unless the Swedes actions were malicious and not accidental or intentional they might be deemed to be stupid tourists but they should not be held financially responsibe. That responsibilities lie with the owners of the property who should have insurance for such an eventuality.

What would have happened had someone died (bearing in mind that the Swedes were stupid and the event not caused by malicious intent) again the property owners third party or public risk insurance should have covered the costs.

This all of course anywhere in the world almost outside of some 3rd world country such as Thailand where anything goes and insurance is an almost unheard of means to protect ones equity.

Its like the fact that of the 350,000 motor vehicles in Chiangmai (motorcycles excluded) only 50,000 are registered and which therefore have 3rd party insurance cover. Add in the fact that the majority of Thai drivers do not hold a drivers licence of any discription.

With the above and numerous other examples that exist one takes their lives and their financial well being at risk every day of the week here in the realm.

[Suzy]

Just another classic example of the Thais extorting money from gullible tourists!

[regal]

I went by and saw it today. It looked like it could of been ANY bungalow / restaurant on Koh Lanta. Not a particular death trap; they were average size, close to the beach with your typical grass roofs. Its quite dry now on Lanta so I see no reason why this couldn’t happen again at ANYTIME. Lets just hope the rest of the resorts owners heed warning and buy some fire extinguishers for the safety of their guests! My question remains: Do you think a Thai national would be charged with the same amount? 15 Lan? Seems like a farang price to me.

[meemiathai]

Guess they should start building houses with steel! But if 15m was the amount, I don't think they would be able to buy enough steel for 20 bungalows and a restaurant.

I wonder what those tourists were doing there! Don't they know that place is bloody dangerous?

Well, I should also remind my in-laws' villagers to get their wooden huts insured!

Oh yes, and of course to install FSIs as well! What? Are we talking about Thailand here?

Good thing is that the whole dangerous place burned down,so it is safe again !

No way! No one is safe until they go back to the west! There still are no signs here on the lamp-posts to warn you from bumping into one! No signs to warn you about the pavement being lumpy! No one to warn you the hot coffee you bought can scald your throat!

I guess we don't have to look into the dictionary today to find the meaning of the words "anger" OR "ignorance".

[Begs]

With the above and numerous other examples that exist one takes their lives and their financial well being at risk every day of the week here in the realm.

So in that case, i expect that an intelligent person like you willl be on the next available flight out of such an horrendous place.

Or will you continue to risk your life and financial well being every day of the week?

[Pink Mist]

How many grass huts can you buy with 15 million Baht? quite a few I would expect

extortion is a word mentioned before

[meemiathai]

Yeah! I'm sure those grass huts and restaurant were empty as well!

[meemiathai]

Oh no! They have got candles in them! That should at least cost a few bahts!

[Pink Mist]

they are now

[george]

We don't know the buliding material in those bungalows, but it might be a stupid idea to have open fire in a Thai bungalow.

We are waiting for a newsagency follow up on this, maybe Phuket Gazette have something later on this issue later today.

[meemiathai]

Did they manage to move everything out, such as tv, aircons, beds & pilows, bath-tubs & toilets etc? If yes, that certainly is extortion!

[Pink Mist]

as george says see what was in them before you get too exited

[meemiathai]

We don't know the buliding material in those bungalows, but it might be a stupid idea to have open fire in a Thai bungalow.

We are waiting for a newsagency follow up on this, maybe Phuket Gazette have something later on this issue later today.

I think someone "ELVIS"? knows everything exactly already!

[meemiathai]

I got excited only after seeing the 3rd post. I was very calm before that.

[A. BOOZER]

By my reckoning, should be able to have a nice new bick built resort, have a relatively new Merc and that trip to the States to see the family!

[Pink Mist]

there are unanswered questions at the moment, why use candles in the room, how close were the structures to each other. Wait and see.

[Rinrada]

Sounds like a Fred Karno Disney Park or more realistically a set from"carry on up the Jungle" Was Babara Windsor on location?

Bt.15 M for a couple of wooden huts.Would suggest a couple of LLoyds insurance investigators could check it out......Bt 15 M

[wolf5370]

If the room rules dissallows open flames, then the tourists are responsible. This may have voided the company's insurance.

Until we know more facts we shouldn't auitomatically come down on the tourists side; we shout enough about the Thais doing the reverse.

[cdnvic]

No signs to warn you about the pavement being lumpy!

We just take it as a given.

cv

[Moving]

The article has few facts on which one can base any valid assumptions.

Maybe of the 15m, 13m was to pay the other approximately 38 guests for their loss of personal property? Could be that 1m was for the bungalow/restaurant and 14m was for the owner's mental anguish? Or perhaps the grass bungalows were actually made of grass.

In any event I am sure that the arson squad investigating this fire is made up of superbly trained and experienced members and having only the most sophisticated equipment and laboratory facilities at their disposal will undoubtedly find the cause and that the follow-on articles in the newspapers will accurately report 'the rest of the story'...to include of course why the couple ("...under investigation...") could be found liable for the fire, and what the insurance and liability laws are for hotel/restaurant owners.

[chuckygobyebye]

I don't suppose anybody could post the name of the place could they?

It's fair enough not having insurance, we looked at insuring our office here in Bangkok and the yearly premiums were almost half the value of the building. I don't think anywhere would insure a bamboo hut.

If it is a candle I'd say 'stupid tourists' all the places on Lanta have power as far as I know.

The 15M bill does sound infalted but as the place probably burnt to the ground and you have to count loss of income.

Dan

[george]

Just in:

The Sanctuary Resort on Long Beach is the name of the place. More details in 30 minutes.

[Larry]

Most Swedes have home insurance with includes coverage for legal liability incurred through negligence during a two or three week vacation. This loss may well be paid by Folksam, Skandia or some other Swedish insurance company.

[Guest IT Manager]

Meemiathai, it's likely better not to nail gun every foreigner in the place for thinking that the Thai owners were colluding with some agency or other, since it is normal practice, and I suspect you would have to be well aware of that.

If I thought that the posts, particularly that of Elvis were based on anything other than "prior experience" I would have had a go at them. They weren't in my opinion, so I didn't.

It's all very well to get the knickers in a twist about how foreigners regard Thai people, but do try to see the other side of the coin. Many members have to put up with it daily. It's rare to see it here, because as cdnvic says, "it's a given".

[Guest IT Manager]

Swedish Nationals in Thailand, free on bail

KOH LANTA: Two Swedes in their thirties were arrested by Thai police,

After they were accused of setting the tourist holiday village in Koh Lanta on fire.

The popular holiday bungalow village was burned down completely - all

that is left is a couple of beds.

One of the arrested Swedes was freed on bail on Monday after the owner of the

premises paid bail of 200,000 Baht.

The holiday bungalow resort Sanctuary Resort on Long Beach at Koh Lanta

in Thailand was struck by fire early Sunday morning. The bungalows,

popular destination for back packers, were completely destroyed by the

flames.

"The only thing left is a couple of beds, according to a witness", says

Christer Nilsson, a reporter for the Aftonbladet Swedish Daily, in Thailand.

A Swedish man around 30 years old and his Swedish girlfriend apparently

fell asleep and forgot a stearine candle, which set the hut on fire.

The fire rapidly spread between the simple grass huts, and some 20

huts were quickly destroyed.

The Swede was arrested by Thai police on Sunday and was transported to

the police station on Koh Lanta. At 16.00pm Bangkok time he was still being

interviewed by the police, but according to Aftonbladet he will be

released soon..

"He is free on a 200,000 Baht bail, paid by the owner of the bungalows",

said Christer Nilsson.

The mans' girlfriend has also been interviewed by police, but she is not

accused of any crime, but is called as a witness against her boyfriend,

according to Christer Nilsson.

It is not clear what crime the man is accused of. Sources at the Swedish

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says that Thai police have not accused the Swedish National

for causing the fire.

It is uncommon that someone is required to pay bail in Thailand without being accused of a crime.

Full story