Santika Fire

[maithai99]

Whats the latest on the New Years fire at Santika, this is the last article I can find back on 4 April

Anyone know anymore

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7981841.stm

Heres some of it

"Sixty-six people died that night, trapped in a building with no sprinklers, no fire exits and no emergency lights.

Shocked by such a toll in a city whose lively nightlife is a big draw for foreign tourists, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva toured the ruins of the Santika the next day and vowed a thorough investigation.

Three months later, there has been little progress.

The police investigation focused on trying to find who started the fire.

The police pinned the blame on the lead singer of Burn, charging him with setting off fireworks, even though the security camera video showed they were ignited automatically. They charged the club's owners with recklessness, and with admitting people under 20 years old.

But a parallel investigation set up by the Ministry of Justice revealed far more disturbing details. The Santika, it turned out, was licensed as a private residence, not a club.

It was operating in a zone where nightclubs were banned. The city architect's signature approving the building design had been forged.

And because it was officially just a house - despite being one of Bangkok's best-known and most conspicuous nightclubs - there had been no fire safety inspections.

The place was a death-trap.

This inquiry discovered something else. The owners of the Santika had applied in 2004 for a licence to operate as an entertainment venue, but had been refused by the police.

The police filed 47 charges of operating illegally against the club owners from June 2004 until 17 September 2006.

But after that date there was no further police action against the club, one of whose recent shareholders, clearly listed in company documents, is a senior police officer, Colonel Prayont Lasua.

Bureaucracy and bribes

Chuwit Kamolvisit is one of Bangkok's most colourful characters - a perennial candidate for mayor and a man who has made a fortune out of the city's notorious night-life.

Party-goers emerged bruised and burned from the fire on New Year's EveHe is also one of the few people willing to speak openly about official corruption, of which he has had plenty of personal experience.

"The police in Thailand are businessmen, not policemen," he said.

"They don't work for society, they work for their own pocket.

"When you have a residential permit you build it, and you change the purpose, alright? Nobody cares. Nobody worries, because you go the police and you pay the police."

Mr Chuwit explained that the bureaucracy involved in running a nightclub legally was so convoluted and expensive it was much easier just to pay bribes and operate illegally.

There is no evidence to show that bribes were paid by the Santika's owners, nor is there any evidence to suggest that Colonel Prayont Lasua has used his position as a senior officer to halt police action against the club.

If you go to a nightclub in Bangkok, and you want to be safe, always check where the exit is, and stay close to it

Prasong Tharachai

Engineering Institute of ThailandBut the failure by the police and the city authorities to act against a club that was so obviously illegal is hard to explain.

Repeated requests by the BBC for interviews with the police and the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) have been turned down.

And now that second investigation has been stopped.

In February it was handed over entirely to the police, the very agency implicated in the safety lapses, and whose earlier efforts have been widely ridiculed.

'Informal style'

Minister of Justice Pirapan Salirathavibhaga said it was normal practice in any crime for the police to handle it, even if they are implicated.

They have to be willing to expose any of their own officers connected to the crime, he said.

Sixty-six people died in the blaze at the Santika that nightBut officials inside the ministry have told the BBC that privately Mr Pirapan is furious that the police have regained control of the investigation and that he wants it handed back to the DSI, Thailand's equivalent of the FBI, which comes directly under his authority.

At the time of writing, that has still not happened.

So how safe are the hundreds of other clubs still running every night in Bangkok, thronged with locals and foreigners?

Under a new law passed at the end of 2007, all public buildings have to be inspected for safety, and of the nearly 6,000 in Bangkok, around half have already been checked.

But according to the BMA, none of those was a pub or nightclub - and even then, only 200 buildings passed their inspection.

"If you go to a nightclub in Bangkok, and you want to be safe, always check where the exit is, and stay close to it," says Prasong Tharachai, from the Engineering Institute of Thailand.

Improving fire safety would not be expensive, he argues. He hopes that after the Santika tragedy that will now happen.

But Chuwit Kamolvisit doubts it ever will. "We prefer things to be informal," he said. "That is the Thai style." "

[cinbkk]

Well, what remained of the club has now been demolished, and I suspect so have been buried any hopes of a proper investigation.

[Mobi]

I posted a story on this from the Bangkok Post on 13 June.

You can find my post here

[sriracha john]

Rather than start yet another thread on the same topic, perhaps this could merged to the thread of mobi's link.

[dee123]

"Shocked by such a toll in a city whose lively nightlife is a big draw for foreign tourists,Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva toured the ruins of the Santika the next day and vowed a thorough investigation". .......... of his wife's Haemorroids????

[JoeThePoster]

I saw a report on Thai TV that they recovered another charred corpse from the rubble as recently as 1 month ago.

[mrtoad]

Swept under the carpet as usual. Too many influential people responsible to have a proper investigation.

[aussiejosh]

Disturbingly no one really cares who has the power to do anything about it or investigate it. Just glad i had decided to goto narz with my friends instead of there that night. I have had night mares that I had gone with my girlfriend and couldn't get to her. Disturbing that this will just happen again, just a matter of when and where.