Will the Thai authorities ever tighten up on entertainment licenses?

[webfact]

Seems the recent Mountain B fire tragedy is opening a can of worms, with authorities trying to find out who are the actual owners.

The incident caused 13 people to be immediately killed, and six others were pronounced dead at the hospital, bringing the total number to 19 deaths as of August 16th. 

Additionally, eight people are seriously injured and on a ventilator, and more than 30 injured people are still being treated at hospitals.

This unnecessary tragedy has dominated the media for the past two weeks and still no one knows who should carry the can.

This week the 19th victim has died in hospital, leaving a small daughter orphaned as the girl’s father also died in the club earlier.

The sad thing is the girl’s grandmother does not even have enough money to pay for their funerals.

Police presence

The local police continue to make their presence at ‘Mountain B’ nightclub since fatal fire killed 19 people.
According to their statement, the police will be deployed to keep an eye on the scene until an engineering team will come to investigate and conclude the final cause of the fire. 

Meanwhile, no one was allowed to enter or move things inside and around the scene.

Now it would seem the 27-year-old man who originally said he was the owner, is not the big boss, but his 57-year-old father, Somyot Panprasong.

An arrest warrant was issued against Somyot Panprasong, on Monday 15th August.

More than ten police officers from the Chonburi Provincial Police surrounded the suspect’s house before conducting a search following the warrant. 

Somyot was nowhere to be found and had not yet presented himself to the police.

Firstly, before the investigations and eventual court proceedings commence, which could take months even years, surely the government should step up and offer both financial and practical help to the survivors and the families of the bereaved.

Of course, the local authorities are at fault for not checking on the new bar in the first place. 

The owner or most likely several investors/owners should be held to account, and one hopes that the place had insurance however the insurance company is likely to step away as the place was obviously not following safety guidelines.

Of course, nightclub premises catch fire weekly around the world, but should we the public be put at risk unknowingly in the first place?

The sad conclusion is that if this fire had happened in a bar in LK Metro or Soi Cowboy and tourists were killed, the global media would come down like a ton of bricks on the Thai authorities.

Let’s hope that the Government will punish everyone who was involved with Mountain B.

.

As for the process after an arrest warrant was issued against Somyot Panprasong, the presumed actual bar owner, on Monday, more than 10 police officers from the Chonburi Provincial Police were deployed to surround the suspect’s house before conducting a search following the warrant. Somyot was nowhere to be found and had not yet presented himself to the police.

 

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[Gottfrid]

No, they will not!

[Swiss1960]

Tightening up licences? We know why this will NEVER EVER going to happen. Short public outrage,  back to standard procedures in a week or two

[Jonathan Swift]

I hope someone sets up a go fund me or something similar for the little girl and other victims. I'm in the US right now

[Excel]

Not while the RTP is a state sponsored corrupted organisation I suspect. Too much money passed up the food chain to the highest level of Thai society for it to be stopped.

[Boomer6969]

6 minutes ago, Excel said:

Not while the RTP is a state sponsored corrupted organisation I suspect. Too much money passed up the food chain to the highest level of Thai society for it to be stopped.

With regards to corruption the RTP is only a small/medium scale entreprise. Look at who is in power and you'll see the ones at the top.

 

But they all wear a uniform, the primary tool for "collection".

Edited August 17, 2022 by Boomer6969

[mikebell]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Somyot Panprasong, the presumed actual bar owner, on Monday, more than 10 police officers from the Chonburi Provincial Police were deployed to surround the suspect’s house before conducting a search following the warrant. Somyot was nowhere to be found and had not yet presented himself to the police.

Another fail for Pattaya Plod.

[austhai]

The title of this post is wrong " Will the Thai authorities ever tighten up on entertainment licenses?". The authorities are already tight on legal businesses, I currently run 3 that have entertainment licenses & we submit engineer approved plans yearly, City Hall engineer inspection are done on fire safety & evacuation standards, also show we have public liability insurance & fire. The problem is the ones that open illegally & no checks are done.

Edited August 18, 2022 by metisdead
Oversize font reset to normal.

[Archie Baker]

1 hour ago, austhai said:

The title of this post is wrong " Will the Thai authorities ever tighten up on entertainment licenses?". The authorities are already tight on legal businesses, I currently run 3 that have entertainment licenses & we submit engineer approved plans yearly, City Hall engineer inspection are done on fire safety & evacuation standards, also show we have public liability insurance & fire. The problem is the ones that open illegally & no checks are done.

Not that tight since Mountain B happened.  How many more are under the carpet.  

[harada]

Perhaps they should look in the mirror. 

[Ralf001]

They need to have 6 monthly building inspections to ensure the "restaurants" have not been illegally converted into nightclubs.

[SymS]

They probably don't need to tighten regulations, as it seems the nightclub in question broke those.
They just need to make sure those who breached them as punishing according, or in other works not a 500 Baht fine and a wai, and instead compensate the victims and/or their family by a few millions Bath each, and possibly some jail time depending on the case.

 

If they start adding regulations each time a problem occur, we end up getting thousands of documents with questionable usefulness, delay in application, corruption, and so on.

 

[Peterw42]

1 hour ago, mikebell said:

Another fail for Pattaya Plod.

Its nothing to do with Pattaya police, the fire was in Sattahip

[4MyEgo]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Let’s hope that the Government will punish everyone who was involved with Mountain B.

That wouldn't include the authorities who turned a blind eye would it ?

 

The buck is certainly being passed here so to speak, away from the real culprits, I mean let's face it, if the authorities didn't allow this establishment to continue due to it being illegally built and with no license, then this whole waste of 19 lives wouldn't have happened, would it ?

[Cake Monster]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The owner or most likely several investors/owners should be held to account, and one hopes that the place had insurance however the insurance company is likely to step away as the place was obviously not following safety guidelines.

It is highly unlikely that these Scum had any Insurance in place.

Any Insurance Company would surely have wanted to see all the relative Safety and Legality documentation prior to the issuance of any Policy.

So many Laws seem to have been blatantly ignored in pursuit of Money that an insurance Policy would not even have been considered.

 

[kingstonkid]

2 hours ago, Excel said:

Not while the RTP is a state sponsored corrupted organisation I suspect. Too much money passed up the food chain to the highest level of Thai society for it to be stopped.

This is probably the best thing that could happen.  If they can prove that money was paid then they can charge the people that received it as accomplices in the murder.

 

Then the RTP can fire everyone involved freeze their pensions and any money they have, and send them to jail.

 

Imagine if all the government people that ran a blind eye because of the brown envelope actually got charged and were then charged in civil court.

 

NO it would not stop all the corruption but people in poower would be a lot more careful

 

YES I know TIT but it is a nice thought

 

 

[kingstonkid]

21 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

It is highly unlikely that these Scum had any Insurance in place.

Any Insurance Company would surely have wanted to see all the relative Safety and Legality documentation prior to the issuance of any Policy.

So many Laws seem to have been blatantly ignored in pursuit of Money that an insurance Policy would not even have been considered.

 

OH I am sure that an insurance policy was purchased and any insurance company with a brain would issue it and get the payment in full.

 

It is a no brainer

 

You get the premium and never have to pay out the policy.

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, austhai said:

The title of this post is wrong " Will the Thai authorities ever tighten up on entertainment licenses?". The authorities are already tight on legal businesses, I currently run 3 that have entertainment licenses & we submit engineer approved plans yearly, City Hall engineer inspection are done on fire safety & evacuation standards, also show we have public liability insurance & fire. The problem is the ones that open illegally & no checks are done.

No need to shout.

Edited August 18, 2022 by metisdead
Oversize font reset to normal.

[Ralf001]

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

That wouldn't include the authorities who turned a blind eye would it ?

 

The buck is certainly being passed here so to speak, away from the real culprits, I mean let's face it, if the authorities didn't allow this establishment to continue due to it being illegally built and with no license, then this whole waste of 19 lives wouldn't have happened, would it ?

The authorities may not have even know it was illegally modified after its initial approval as a restaurant.

 

FWIW I this place came up in discussion with a friend just gone, he told me he has been there several times for a meal and that the steak was rather good.

 

So whilst it was converted to a nightclub it was still in some sort of capacity a restaurant too so really is in the grey area of illegal as not that long ago bars and clubs were getting restaurant licences to open.

[shackleton]

We all know or suspect nothing will happen to Change the Government's policy on Health and Safety it is not a priority in Thailand

look at the driving laws not enforced seat belts  comes  to mind ???? 

Corruption and Money talks ????  <deleted> walks

Nothing will change 

 

[ozz1]

No nothing will change as long  as the envelopes are given no inspection given it will never change

 

[hotchilli]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

This unnecessary tragedy has dominated the media for the past two weeks and still no one knows who should carry the can.

The owners/managers and police for allowing it to operate.

Easy.

[Andrew65]

6 hours ago, Boomer6969 said:

With regards to corruption the RTP is only a small/medium scale entreprise. Look at who is in power and you'll see the ones at the top.

 

But they all wear a uniform, the primary tool for "collection".

They swapped their uniforms for suits.

[hotchilli]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

The local police continue to make their presence at ‘Mountain B’ nightclub since fatal fire killed 19 people.

I'm sure they made their presence know before the fire... each month.

just a shame they weren't checking things properly instead of collecting rent.

Lives might have been saved.

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, austhai said:

The title of this post is wrong " Will the Thai authorities ever tighten up on entertainment licenses?". The authorities are already tight on legal businesses, I currently run 3 that have entertainment licenses & we submit engineer approved plans yearly, City Hall engineer inspection are done on fire safety & evacuation standards, also show we have public liability insurance & fire. The problem is the ones that open illegally & no checks are done.

Monthly checks are done, even at Mountain B... it's just spelt differently CHEQUES.

[Dont confuse me]

They regularly 'tighten up' on entertainment establishments! 

They see 'tightening up' as asking for a little more in the brown envelopes.

LoS is run on corruption and money will ALWAYS be number 1 that's why things will not change.

[madmitch]

4 hours ago, Cake Monster said:

It is highly unlikely that these Scum had any Insurance in place.

Any Insurance Company would surely have wanted to see all the relative Safety and Legality documentation prior to the issuance of any Policy.

So many Laws seem to have been blatantly ignored in pursuit of Money that an insurance Policy would not even have been considered.

 

A business of this size would probably not be required to submit such documents upfront though it's possible an insurance company might require a survey, which should point out the deficiencies. Policies also contain endorsements relating to health and safety so insurers are protected if the insured blatantly ignores regulations.

 

But I believe it's already been ascertained that no public liability cover was in place and as most small businesses buy a package I'd assume there was no fire insurance either.

[Thingamabob]

Years ago I had a part interest in the old Alleycat bar at the Silom end of Patpong 2. We met all the legal health and safety requirements, and never had any problems with the RTP.

Edited August 18, 2022 by Thingamabob

[mikebell]

On 8/18/2022 at 8:23 AM, Peterw42 said:

Its nothing to do with Pattaya police, the fire was in Sattahip

A bigger den of iniquity than Pattaya.

[Jaybott]

One thing that should come out of this investigation is to BAN FLAMMABLE SOUND PROOF PANELS.  Who would even make them (as if we don't know)?  I hope this is a wake up call for Thailand and other ASEAN countries that may have imported these dangerous panels.  Any leftover panels anywhere in Thailand should be recalled and destroyed.

 

To be sure all panels are recalled the government should institute some type of buy back program, cash incentives, tax breaks, etc.