Little Public Faith In Bangkok's Fire Prevention System

[webfact]

Little public faith in fire system

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- More than half the residents in Bangkok have no confidence in fire prevention systems in the capital, according to a recent survey.

Some 54 per cent of those polled said they lacked confidence in systems to stop fires because blazes had occurred quite often in Bangkok lately.

Suan Dusit Rajabhat University questioned 1,267 Bangkok residents between March 9-10 in a survey conducted to assess people's opinion about fire problems.

Of the respondents, 10 per cent said outright they did not have any confidence in the capital's fire prevention set-up.

In all, only 33 per cent said they were quite confident, and while less than 3 per cent had complete confidence in fire-prevention efforts.

Last week, a fire broke out at the Grand Park Avenue, a four-star hotel in central Bangkok, causing two deaths.

Thong Lor Police Station superintendent Colonel Ratsak Raksalam said investigators had already questioned four or five hotel employees.

"We will interrogate firemen and officials from the Engineering Institute of Thailand, as well as Klong Toei District Office," he said.

Raksak said if grounds for criminal offences were uncovered, police would press charges against suspected wrongdoers.

Pol Lt Colonel Thanakrong Kornkaew, who is handling the case, said Grand Park Avenue officials had confirmed the hotel was willing to compensate all victims.

Apart from the two fatalities, more than 20 were injured in the incident, mostly foreign tourists who suffered smoke inhalation.

As of press time, at least one victim remained in hospital.

-- The Nation 2012-03-12

[Unkomoncents]

Is there public faith in prevention of anything in Bangkok? The city is like a good-looking HIV patient: on the surface nothing seems wrong but just beneath the skin, any infection can run rampant.

[EyesWideOpen]

Since the information has come out that in essence the " fire department" is run by the police, this lack of public faith in the fire department makes perfect sense. It should be perfectly clear to any long term expat here, that if the police are involved, there will be in fact payoffs to look the other when it comes to fire safety. The Santika pub fire springs to mind.. I suspect there are a lot of nervous farangs living in high rise condo buildings right now....

[clockman]

Evrything is about saving face, and any ethics revolve around money. For a so called Buddist country, very strange

[MaxLee]

In Summertime, when energy consumption overloads the machinery due to the super hot weather, is it any mystery that fire breaks out. Has anybody thought about that?

[toenail]

Fact:One cannot depend on the city to enforce building codes or saftey ordinances; however, the managers/owners of hotels, office buildings, and hotels should have their own "check list" to prevent such mistakes (such as faulty sprinkler systems; no fire extinguishers; blocked fire escapes..)

[anterian]

In most civilised countries insurance companies have their own requirements, over and above any legal ones. If you don't comply they won't insure.

[TackyToo]

Evrything is about saving face, and any ethics revolve around money. For a so called Buddist country, very strange

A Buddhist country? Most people here only visit the temple to ask for good luck. Too bad Buddha did not explicit mention 'saving life comes before saving face'

[DGS1244]

Since the information has come out that in essence the " fire department" is run by the police, this lack of public faith in the fire department makes perfect sense. It should be perfectly clear to any long term expat here, that if the police are involved, there will be in fact payoffs to look the other when it comes to fire safety. The Santika pub fire springs to mind.. I suspect there are a lot of nervous farangs living in high rise condo buildings right now....

The fire department was transfered to the City, from the police, a long time ago. The compliance of fire fighting equipment, sprinklers, hose etc. is the responsibility of various departments of the city administration not the fire department. The quality and performance of such systems is the responsibility of occupiers and is down to them all times. In Bangkok from long experience I have found fewer than 5% of systems in buildings pass a annual test the first time or are even complient to code. Until occupiers are forced to take responsibility then fires and deaths from them will continue.

[surangw]

Did not mention emergency vehicles trying to get somewhere in traffic, when there is no place for most cars to pull over and let them by.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

In Bangkok from long experience I have found fewer than 5% of systems in buildings pass a annual test the first time or are even complient to code. Until occupiers are forced to take responsibility then fires and deaths from them will continue.

Just curious... what's your basis for using the 5% compliance figure?

If you have some direct experience with the process, it would be interesting to hear how and why the system seems to produce such poor results.

[EyesWideOpen]

Since the information has come out that in essence the " fire department" is run by the police, this lack of public faith in the fire department makes perfect sense. It should be perfectly clear to any long term expat here, that if the police are involved, there will be in fact payoffs to look the other when it comes to fire safety. The Santika pub fire springs to mind.. I suspect there are a lot of nervous farangs living in high rise condo buildings right now....

The fire department was transfered to the City, from the police, a long time ago. The compliance of fire fighting equipment, sprinklers, hose etc. is the responsibility of various departments of the city administration not the fire department. The quality and performance of such systems is the responsibility of occupiers and is down to them all times. In Bangkok from long experience I have found fewer than 5% of systems in buildings pass a annual test the first time or are even complient to code. Until occupiers are forced to take responsibility then fires and deaths from them will continue.

Not all that long ago, but I stand corrected. Thanks.

Bangkok Fire and Rescue Department was transferred from the Royal Thai Police,Fire Brigade Division to Bangkok Metropolitan Administration ( BMA ) according to the Cabinet resolution on 21 January, 8 July and 16 September 2003.