One Killed, 10 Injured In Bangkok Hotel Fire

[laurentbkk]

Oh well , in a country where electric wires are a total mess , I wouldnt be surprise .... I feel sorry for the injured and this poor woman died during her holidays. its always sad .. but many questions , why water sprinkles didnt work ? were they any fire extinguishers in the corridor ? That remind me the fire many years ago of a hotel in Jomtien , the emergency exit were locked...

[webfact]

One dead, 20 hurt in Bangkok hotel blaze: officials

BANGKOK, March 9, 2012 (AFP) - A fire broke out at a large hotel in central Bangkok popular with foreign tourists, leaving one guest dead and about 20 people injured, officials said on Friday.

The blaze is believed to have started in a meeting room on the fifth floor of the 221-room Grand Park Avenue Hotel off the Sukhumvit Road on Thursday evening, with smoke spreading to guest rooms.

"A female foreign tourist died from suffocation," said Suvinai Busrakamwongs, director of the Kluay Nam Thai hospital. Her nationality was unknown because she had no identification.

"Another male Western tourist is in intensive care," Suvinai said.

Emergency services said about 20 people suffered smoke inhalation in the fire, which was later extinguished. Authorities were investigating the cause.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-03-09

[Soutpeel]

Everyone here should map out their exit path first night of each hotel stay in Asia or Africa, and survey their workplace.

Why are you restricting this advice to only hotels in Asia or Africa ?....you should do this in every hotel you stay in irrepsective of where it is in the world.

are you suggesting buildings dont catch fire in the western world and people do not get killed in said fires ?

Some of the biggest deathtraps I ever seen were some commerical buildings in New York.

Edited March 9, 2012 by Soutpeel

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

As an American architect, what's left of my hair stands on end with what I see here in terms of fire hazards in high rises. Seriously, I check the closest exit stair all the way to the ground, every time I take my family to a hotel, anywhere in Asia. In the vast majority of the time, the fire stair's required fire-rated stair enclosure is breached by several doors propped open or missing, closers or latches broken or purposely disabled via simple removal, and/or flammables stored in the stairwell itself! These are deathtraps via smoke inhalation in the first minutes of a highrise fire. Then the fire comes up the same path later, but it doesn't matter, the smoke already killed the occupants.

.....................

Everyone here should map out their exit path first night of each hotel stay in Asia or Africa, and survey their workplace. A five Kg sledge hammer & crowbar stored in your office will get you out in case of a locked exit door. But first you have to have clear air in the stairwell to get you there. Ask nicely the maintenance guys to fix doors & closers, then the landlord, and finally the Fire Dept if need be. Hell, just have it done yourself.

The maintenance staff come straight from rice farming along with their boss, so have no idea about fire safety in commercial buildings. The owners havent a care in the world, cant be bothered, and the Fire Department yearly inspections required in other countries is a joke. Doesnt happen.

Good advice and commentary on fire safety in Thailand (and elsewhere).

Guess you're not going to be doing any consulting work for the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

[Soutpeel]

speaking of which, how safe is the subway system. when i was in bkk, i never bothered to use it. any comment?

the subway system is as good as many European countries. even better in many ways.

Agreed....lest we not forget about the subway fire in London many years ago

[webfact]

UPDATE

2 Killed, 24 Injured in Grand Park Avenue Hotel Fire in Sukhumvit Soi 22

BANGKOK: -- A fire broke out last night at Grand Park Avenue Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22, killing two people and injuring 24 others.

Deputy Bangkok Governor Malinee Sukavejworakit said officials are quickly trying to ease the situation after fire broke out last night at the Grand Park Avenue Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. The building is being closely monitored, as there are smoking embers that could re-ignite.

According to the building manager, the fire started on the fourth floor. The cause of blaze is not yet known. Initially, the director of Klong Toey District reported that fire-stop and sprinkle systems were previously installed in the building.

It has not been decided whether the building will be temporarily closed, since the Public Works Office and related officials will closely examine the building before any action is taken.

So far, 24 residents are reported injured, while two foreigners are reported to have died. Due to several reports of building fires in Bangkok over the last few weeks, the Bangkok Management Office has prepared to invite experts to assess more than 1,000 buildings that were built before 1992, for safety reasons.

-- Tan Network 2012-03-09

[sparebox2]

Some Thai hotels are death trap. Do avoid Thai hotels.

Farang hotel OK.

[Reasonableman]

Some Thai hotels are death trap. Do avoid Thai hotels.

Farang hotel OK.

Thanks for the wind-up.

[DocN]

Some Thai hotels are death trap. Do avoid Thai hotels.

Farang hotel OK.

Geeeesas, will we ever be safe from your non-sense comments?

[bbradsby]

Everyone here should map out their exit path first night of each hotel stay in Asia or Africa, and survey their workplace.

Why are you restricting this advice to only hotels in Asia or Africa ?....you should do this in every hotel you stay in irrepsective of where it is in the world.

are you suggesting buildings dont catch fire in the western world and people do not get killed in said fires ?

Some of the biggest deathtraps I ever seen were some commerical buildings in New York.

Easy. From experience. Any 3-Star and above hotel in the US, and I've seen lots, are ship-shape, due to professional management and - not least - a real set of architectural drawings to US standards, a real plan check process by public agencies, real construction site qa/qc, and real Fire Dept annual inspections. How many levels of cross checking can you count in that sentence?

[givenall]

I know what the news will say Friday morning: City officials will now enforce the inspection of water sprinklers in hotels and fire escape information in hotels. (Meanwhile ignoring the importance of educating the public about NOT blocking the sois while being spectators of the fire, or failing to have up to date equipment.)

Good luck about education.

I always wonder why the cars have their siren going all the time even though they are stock in a big traffic mess. and they know no one will give them way to go any ways

[sparebox2]

Some Thai hotels are death trap. Do avoid Thai hotels.

Farang hotel OK.

Geeeesas, will we ever be safe from your non-sense comments?

What I mean is that some Thai hotels save cost, and cause safety standard to be compromise, hence avoid Thai hotels if possible.

Farang hotels have higher safety standard, and worth paying a little more.

Is this not a fact?

[webfact]

Russian tourist dies in Sukhumvit hotel fire

BANGKOK, March 9 - A foreign female tourist identified as Russian national died of smoke inhalation and lack of oxygen following a Bangkok hotel fire Thurday night, according to Erawan Emergency Centre director.

The victim’s name was not disclosed.

Among those 21 injured now hospitalised are a foreign tourist whose nationality is yet to be identified and who is in critical condition, the centre director Petchpong Kumjornkijjakarn said on Friday.

Nine of the injured were sent to Kluaynamthai Hospital, one to Klang Hospital, four to Bumrungrad Hospital, five to Theptarin Hospital, and the other two to Chulalongkorn Hospital.

Meanwhile, Kluaynamthai Hospital Director Suvinai Busarakumwongs said that the nine casualties hospitalised there were six Russian nationals, one Japanese, one Thai and one man currently unidentified by nationality.

All the victims are expected to gradually be discharged from the hospital today, Dr Suvinai added.

The fire took place at the Grand Park Avenue Hotel in downtown Sukhumvit 22 late Thursday night. Bangkok Metropolitan Police deputy commander Pol Maj-Gen Anuchai Lekbumrung initially presumed that the incident may have been caused by an electrical short circuit.

Meanwhile, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has announced the hotel as an off-limits zone, awaiting Public Works Department verification of the safety of the structure and inspection of the fire sprinkler system to determine whether it worked properly during the fire.

Last Saturday, a major fire broke out at an office building in a nearby neighbourhood, causing extensive damage but no deaths. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-03-09

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Initially, the director of Klong Toey District reported that fire-stop and sprinkle systems were previously installed in the building.

The BMA folks are really on a roll here...

In the FICO building fire the other day, the BMA district manager was quoted in news reports as claiming the building had a working fire sprinkler system... It didn't.

Last night/early this am, I believe it was one of the BMA deputy govs was quoted in news reports as claiming no one had been killed in the hotel fire...after original reports said one hotel guest had died... Now the latest media reports today say two dead.

It seems the BMA folks are trying to compete with the national government for being the most skilled at talking out of the wrong bodily orifice.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

So is it ONE dead or TWO?

The TAN report from 11 am said two... Now the MCOT report seems to be talking only about one death....

[Soutpeel]

Everyone here should map out their exit path first night of each hotel stay in Asia or Africa, and survey their workplace.

Why are you restricting this advice to only hotels in Asia or Africa ?....you should do this in every hotel you stay in irrepsective of where it is in the world.

are you suggesting buildings dont catch fire in the western world and people do not get killed in said fires ?

Some of the biggest deathtraps I ever seen were some commerical buildings in New York.

Easy. From experience. Any 3-Star and above hotel in the US, and I've seen lots, are ship-shape, due to professional management and - not least - a real set of architectural drawings to US standards, a real plan check process by public agencies, real construction site qa/qc, and real Fire Dept annual inspections. How many levels of cross checking can you count in that sentence?

So what you saying is that hotels in the " Land "O" free" dont burst into flames on ocassion and people dont die ?

Consulting Mr google for a quick fact....

"Over the four years, one in every 12 hotels or motels reported a fire which led to a call to the fire brigade and on average there were 3,900 such fires each year"

[DocN]

Some Thai hotels are death trap. Do avoid Thai hotels.

Farang hotel OK.

Geeeesas, will we ever be safe from your non-sense comments?

What I mean is that some Thai hotels save cost, and cause safety standard to be compromise, hence avoid Thai hotels if possible.

Farang hotels have higher safety standard, and worth paying a little more.

Is this not a fact?

How many hotels in Thailand do you know, that are not Thai?

Want a hint? The number starts with "z" and ends with "ero"!

[Lite Beer]

One dead as guests flee Bangkok hotel blaze

BANGKOK, March 9, 2012 (AFP) - A fire at a major tourist hotel in Bangkok killed one foreigner and injured about 20 others, as rescue workers used cranes to pluck guests from the smoke-filled building, officials said Friday.

Firefighters rushed to the scene after the blaze broke out in a function room at the 221-room Grand Park Avenue Hotel off the Sukhumvit Road in the Thai capital on Thursday evening.

"A female foreign tourist died from suffocation," said Suvinai Busrakamwongs, director of the Kluay Nam Thai hospital.

The victim's nationality was unknown because she had no identification and nobody came forward to identify her, he said.

"Another male Western tourist is in intensive care," Suvinai added.

The man was unconscious and his condition was worsening, the hospital said.

Several foreigners wearing oxygen masks were seen being carried out of the hotel on stretchers late Thursday as crowds gathered to watch the blaze in a popular tourist district of the city.

Emergency services said about 20 people suffered smoke inhalation in the fire, which was later extinguished.

"People used flashlights to show us where they were," volunteer rescue worker Surapon Poonkate of the Poh Teck Tung Foundation told AFP.

"Most of the guests ran up to the top of the building but we couldn't reach them there. The crane could go only up to the 6th and 7th floors. So we moved them out through those two floors," he said.

"After we took the people out, we searched through the floors, and found two foreigners, one woman and one man, unconscious on the 7th floor. So we took them down and sent them to hospital."

The injured included 14 Russians, one Briton, two Thais and one Japanese, according to the Bangkok city government's Erawan emergency centre. The nationalities of the others were unknown.

Of the injured, 10 were discharged from hospital and 11 were still receiving medical treatment.

Guests were moved to a nearby hotel as authorities investigated the cause of the incident.

Thailand is a tourist magnet but its image as the "Land of Smiles" has been tested in recent years by deadly political unrest, devastating floods and more recently a bungled bomb plot involving Iranian suspects.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-03-09

[silent]

One dead in Bangkok hotel blaze

BANGKOK: -- One person died when a fire broke out at a 15-floor hotel in central Bangkok on Thursday, emergency services said.

The fire began at the Grand Mercure Park Avenue Hotel off the Sukhumvit Road at about 9.44 pm (14:44 GMT), a fire department official told AFP.

One person died and five were injured, according to the government's Erawan emergency centre, which said the blaze was under control.

Police assisted other guests to leave the building.

"We're now helping foreigners staying in the hotel," said a police officer at the scene.

It was unclear whether any guests were trapped inside.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-03-09

Wow. Shades of the MGM Grand and Inn on the Park, how many years ago? So much for lessons learned and modern day technology

[bbradsby]

Everyone here should map out their exit path first night of each hotel stay in Asia or Africa, and survey their workplace.

Why are you restricting this advice to only hotels in Asia or Africa ?....you should do this in every hotel you stay in irrepsective of where it is in the world.

are you suggesting buildings dont catch fire in the western world and people do not get killed in said fires ?

Some of the biggest deathtraps I ever seen were some commerical buildings in New York.

Easy. From experience. Any 3-Star and above hotel in the US, and I've seen lots, are ship-shape, due to professional management and - not least - a real set of architectural drawings to US standards, a real plan check process by public agencies, real construction site qa/qc, and real Fire Dept annual inspections. How many levels of cross checking can you count in that sentence?

So what you saying is that hotels in the " Land "O" free" dont burst into flames on ocassion and people dont die ?

Consulting Mr google for a quick fact....

"Over the four years, one in every 12 hotels or motels reported a fire which led to a call to the fire brigade and on average there were 3,900 such fires each year"

No, re-read my post more carefully. Even using a question mark, you're putting words in my mouth and quoting an unnamed source that uses a non-American English term for "Fire Department." So I question the applicability of your quote to US hotels.

An aside, most US 3+ Star Hotel fire calls are false alarms but because the US Code requires the alarm system to be monitored by the Fire Department ("brigade" ), they show up in about five minutes - or less - ready for battle.

[sparebox2]

Some Thai hotels are death trap. Do avoid Thai hotels.

Farang hotel OK.

Geeeesas, will we ever be safe from your non-sense comments?

What I mean is that some Thai hotels save cost, and cause safety standard to be compromise, hence avoid Thai hotels if possible.

Farang hotels have higher safety standard, and worth paying a little more.

Is this not a fact?

How many hotels in Thailand do you know, that are not Thai?

Want a hint? The number starts with "z" and ends with "ero"!

Farang hotel in Thailand, such as Conrad, Hilton, Sheraton, Novotel, Marriott, Hyatt, etc.

Thai hotel in Thailand, such as Dusit, Amari, Central, Princess, Imperial, etc.

Edited March 9, 2012 by sparebox2

[jobsworth]

often stay at the 27 hotel at 350 THB per night which is just next door

(good to give it a plug -

excellent hotel, clean, simple, hot water, aircon, tv and nice people)

out of curiosity once had breakfast at the Grand Mercure Park Avenue Hotel on Soi 22

it cost 500 THB and was nothing special. in fact not a very good breakfast

could have bought something much better and cheaper at the 7/11 opposite

Edited March 9, 2012 by jobsworth

[Soutpeel]

and quoting an unnamed source that uses a non-American English term for "Fire Department." So I question the applicability of your quote to US hotels.

http://www.eurosprinkler.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=30:us-hotel-fire-deaths-halved-again&catid=1:news-english&Itemid=6

Apology accepted

[Scott]

Some off-topic posts have been deleted.

[Soutpeel]

An aside, most US 3+ Star Hotel fire calls are false alarms but because the US Code requires the alarm system to be monitored by the Fire Department ("brigade" ), they show up in about five minutes - or less - ready for battle.

So based on this....hotel's in Land "O" free do actually burst into flames then on ocassion? they must do if the alarms are monitored by the fire brigade woops sorry Fire Department....if they didnt there wouldnt be a need to monitor the alarms then

[iSquirtYuYu]

hey guys, i live at the Admiral, directly next to this building. caught some of it on video if you're interested:

youtube com/watch?v=2kFrEtAr-0c

[bbradsby]

and quoting an unnamed source that uses a non-American English term for "Fire Department." So I question the applicability of your quote to US hotels.

http://www.eurosprin...nglish&Itemid=6

Apology accepted

your proposed link doesn't list IT's sources, but via vague reference... did you just gin it up?

Here's one: http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs036.htm "In 2008, 64,300 establishments provided accommodations to suit many different needs and budgets [in the USA]." Let's see, with 11 deaths per year over 64,300 hotels &motels, one is in more danger by reading your posts.

Edited March 9, 2012 by bbradsby

[CaptainPeacock]

On my way out last night as I was walking along the foot bridge on rama 4 road all of a sudden I started hearing all these police sirens and lights and yes the antiquated red fire engines, so I paused to see all the commotion, it was unreal in all my years here i've never seen so many fire engines and police cars trying to get through the traffic, now I log into here and see the sad news...

[Soutpeel]

and quoting an unnamed source that uses a non-American English term for "Fire Department." So I question the applicability of your quote to US hotels.

http://www.eurosprin...nglish&Itemid=6

Apology accepted

your proposed link doesn't list IT's sources, but via vague reference... did you just gin it up?

Here's one: http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs036.htm "In 2008, 64,300 establishments provided accommodations to suit many different needs and budgets [in the USA]." Let's see, with 11 deaths per year over 64,300 hotels &motels, one is in more danger by reading your posts.

You suggested I was making it up the information..and I gave you the source, so why the insults ?

per your orignal comments...."Any 3-Star and above hotel in the US, and I've seen lots, are ship-shape, due to professional management and - not least - a real set of architectural drawings to US standards, a real plan check process by public agencies, real construction site qa/qc, and real Fire Dept annual inspections"

so inspite of all you mention as being required and per your quoted link...11 deaths still occured in hotels in the US !!!.

So back to my original question,we can conclude it appears hotel's in the Land "O" free do burst into flames on ocassion and people do die.

What ever the eventual conclusion as to the cause of the fire at the Grand Park Avenue it is still a tragic accident which could have occured anywhere in the world including the good ole USA.

[HaleySabai]

Girlfriend called me and told me to stay away from soi 22; she was up in Thonglor.

.....What she is actually saying is "stay away from soi.21"