Thailand marks 25 years since Jomtien hotel fire that killed 81 - exits locked, stairwells blocked, sprinklers not working

[bangkok19]

Probably the 2 greatest fears I have when staying in BKK are being involved in a road accident or a fire.

I can remember seeing the FIRST HOTEL (Petchburi Rd) fire back in the mid 80's

and it left me shaken for a few days.  Then a few years later (around '91) just up the road at the intersection near the overpass, a rigid table top truck with a transi-tank of LP gas collided with the safety barrier sending the tank down onto the road below exploding and spraying the cars and bikes (waiting at the intersection) with burning liquid propane. Around 80+ deaths there.

And I was in Soi Cowboy celebrating NYE when we heard news of the Santika nightclub fire in the early hours. It, of course dominated all the newspapers for the next few months...   the blame game. 

When staying at a hotel ANYWHERE in Thailand I check where the fire exits are and hopefully there's a fire exit map on the back of my room's door. 

It's a bit of a worry when your room is directly above the hotel's Coffee Shop/Restaurant.

It appears over the years LESSONS AREN'T LEARNT.

The authorities "knee-jerk" reaction to anything is 'over-regulation' to everything...  but the enforcement is quickly forgotten (until next time).  

[carlyai]

9 hours ago, d4dang said:

The Pratunam gas explosion in Bangkok was another preventable accident. A speeding fuel truck lost control spilling fuel which caught fire and exploded. There were many deaths and injuries as people were stuck in traffic.

 

That also was a horrible accident. I went and looked at all the burnt out cars etc they removed from that accident. They had them parked on the side of a road (can't remember which road). What a mess.

[Gsxrnz]

I'm not particularly paranoid.  But when checking into a hotel I always familiarise myself with the fire notices, and on many (probably most) occasions actually inspect the fire exits.  Even if staying in an unfamiliar house, I will count the steps to the 2nd floor.

 

I suspect I acquired this habit from travelling on three ocean liner trips of six weeks each when I was 10 thru 13 years old.  They had routine "boat drills" to practice for any emergency.  We travelled in the deepest and cheapest decks  (deck F was way below the water line), so finding your way to the lifeboats could take 10 minutes of multiple sets of stairs on a good day.

 

Believe me, you did not want to be in the bowels of the ship and not know the quickest way out in an emergency.

[actonion]

19 hours ago, BusyB said:

'The managing director and president of the majority shareholder in the hotel were later charged.'

 

And ...?

Charged with  what,   a 500b fine  no doubt

[Darksidedude]

i remember this was horrible

[mikebell]

Health & Safety will never catch on in Thailand.  It requires vigilance; aforethought; intelligence but most importantly financial investment.

[bbbbooboo]

Hmmm…. Knowing Thailand and it’s demonstrated lack of concern with anything for safety of anything, I would doubt that little or nothing has changed. The problem is who do you complain to who gives a sh*t?

[Sydebolle]

Trust me, nothing ever changed; eventually got even worse. I spend quite some time in hotels and it is absolutely amazing, how staircases are turned into storage facilities and, in more than one case, the exit door was chain-locked to avoid gate crushers getting away. 

Knowing that I am aware of the risk and would be well prepared in case of such a catastrophe .... 

[jacko45k]

21 hours ago, mikebell said:

Health & Safety will never catch on in Thailand.  It requires vigilance; aforethought; intelligence but most importantly financial investment.

And proactive action..... just seems completely absent here.

[sharksy]

I arrived in a 4 star hotel in Brussels with my girlfriend.  Just got into room and there was a power cut.

It really was pitch black.  I felt the walls to get back to the room door, reassuring the girlfriend that there would be emergency lighting in the hallway and stairs.

 

But that was pitch black too.  After 10 minutes carefully feeling the walls, found the emergency stairway, then  lights all came back on.

 

Couldn't believe this could happen in Brussels, home of the EU rules and laws

[digbeth]

On 7/12/2022 at 9:17 AM, internationalism said:

if that was 4 star hotel, what were standards at less luxurious places?

and how stricter are standards now?

Fire can happen anytime and anywhere, but how fire brigade was not able to contain it to kitchen or dining place, where it started.

 

Even more luxurious hotel, the one on island off the east coast that fly you in and out on private plane was just burned down last year, no functioning sprinkler or fire alarm ever, and this is 40,000-half million baht a night