Four Tourists Reportedly Killed In Phuket Discotheque Fire

[sirchai]

If the dam_n placed closed when it suppose to nobody would have died, no one. That's why it's important to say this.

Sure, and if the tourists did not come to Thailand and that bar, they would not not have died. Easy answer, all stay at home! What a interesting way of looking at it you have.

+1

[Soupdragon]

""The four dead bodies were burnt beyond recognition. We cannot identify even their gender."

Three Singaporeans, one Japanese and a Myanmar national were among the dead, while scores of foreigners including some from Australia, France and Britain were injured.

For the third time in this thread. The figures you are quoting relate to the Santika fire. Not Phuket.

[Moruya]

The usual over reaction from the usual suspects, hang em high lets wait for an investigation and see what happens. I spent 26 years in the Navy there is always two way out of each compartment it is your responsibility to know where these are located. Its the same in any big building or mall it is your responsibility to know how to get out. When I enter any large building especially night clubs I always know at least two ways out preferable the two that are closer too my location. One should do this where ever you are they lock and chain exits in the west as well too keep out the non paying crowd.

By the way transformers are hit by lighting on a regular basis as they are located in a high location and it seems they attract lighting. Even if they are not hit directly a near miss can cause a short and fire.

Good luck to the injured and a speedy recovery with their injuries,sorry about the dead best wishes too their families.

So every time you go anywhere pictures / shopping mall/ disco/bar you go check out the exits come on mate are you living in cuckoo land or do you take us all to be a bunch of idiots, and and whats being in the navy got to do with it !!!!!!

Of you worked in a safety conscious industry such as the oilfield you would do it automatically

[tinfoilhat]

I've been into that disco since the Santika fire, and remember making a point of standing by the door, ot was only a matter of time before this happened and not a single lesson was learnt the first time, disgraceful! Phuket is running out of feet to short itself in.

a rather apt freudian slip given the circumstances

[SeaVisionBurma]

""The four dead bodies were burnt beyond recognition. We cannot identify even their gender."

Three Singaporeans, one Japanese and a Myanmar national were among the dead, while scores of foreigners including some from Australia, France and Britain were injured.

Not everyone is reading thoroughly before they post..... not that the press "background info" of the Santika fire is helping much, for the skim readers at least......

[KeyserSoze01]

Is the issue that people died and how, not more important than than worrying about late opening?

We know how 4 people sadly died, and that is an important issue, but had the law been obeyed, the disco would not have been open at 4am, and conceivably nobody would have been in the premises and nobody would have died or been injured. Is that not important too?

You're pissing in the wind. Both the big discos in Patong are empty until midnight and really don't start rocking until around 2:00am when the gogos and beer bars close. They usually go until dawn, as long as there are patrons.

[marshbags]

""The four dead bodies were burnt beyond recognition. We cannot identify even their gender."

Three Singaporeans, one Japanese and a Myanmar national were among the dead, while scores of foreigners including some from Australia, France and Britain were injured.

Not everyone is reading thoroughly before they post..... not that the press "background info" of the Santika fire is helping much, for the skim readers at least......

Not critising you SVB, just re enforcing what you say about not reading the article properly.

( we can all possibly be guilty of this of course on occasion )

The 2 paragraphs above the one you are quoting in bold give clarity to the what was missed.

They clearly are two different tragedies and should not be confused.

" Concerns about fire safety at Thai nightclubs were highlighted by a massive blaze at a disco in the capital Bangkok in 2009 that left more than 60 people dead, including foreigners, as people celebrated the new year.

In that incident hundreds of party-goers were inside the Santika Club when it was set ablaze by pyrotechnics during a rock band's "

I hope you don,t mind me highlighting them to compliment your yours.

marshbags

Edited August 17, 2012 by marshbags

[Sharp]

If the dam_n placed closed when it suppose to nobody would have died, no one. That's why it's important to say this.

Sure, and if the tourists did not come to Thailand and that bar, they would not not have died. Easy answer, all stay at home! What a interesting way of looking at it you have.

+1

+2

Sent from my GT-N7000B using Thaivisa Connect App

[sydneyjed]

And if there hadn't been a midnight showing of Batman there wouldn't have been the shootings in CO. And so on.

These types of nightclub fires happen periodically all over the world. Never good. Always preventable but still it's about the innocents who were just out having a good time and have suffered because of events beyond their control.

You are digressing

It is non compliance with laws that is the cause of so many problems here in Thailand and regrettably elsewhere. Many clubs, cinemas. hotels etc are all allowed to open without proper fire exits, fire fighting appliances etc. And despite regulations to close at certain times, entertainment outlets circumvent the laws regularly by making under the counter payments.

And office blocks as well all over thailand...the one down Asoke at the Fico building in Bangkok had no fire sprinklers...correct me if the hotel upon soi 22 in March had a sprinkler system that was working as well...Tragedies waiting to happen unfortunately!

[SeaVisionBurma]

Not critising you SVB, just re enforcing what you say about not reading the article properly.

( we can all possibly be guilty of this of course on occasion )

The 2 paragraphs above the one you are quoting in bold give clarity to the what was missed.

They clearly are two different tragedies and should not be confused.

" Concerns about fire safety at Thai nightclubs were highlighted by a massive blaze at a disco in the capital Bangkok in 2009 that left more than 60 people dead, including foreigners, as people celebrated the new year.

In that incident hundreds of party-goers were inside the Santika Club when it was set ablaze by pyrotechnics during a rock band's "

I hope you don,t mind me highlighting them to compliment your yours.

marshbags

I don't mind at all marshbags - what you have just posted is exactly what I was thinking....

I was typing on a phone, and that led to a far shorter post.....

You have hit the nail on the head....

cheers

SVB

[geriatrickid]

Just a bit of background info on the building: There was a lot of plastic and fiberglass decoration to give it that jungle motif. As we know, when these products burn, they give off very thick smoke that is toxic that can kill in minutes. I wonder if any thought was given to the fire code when these items were installed? The Tiger was crammed into a space where only 2 sides of the property allowed for easy entry and exit.

Tiger Group spent a lot of money on this bar and it was often busy. I don't think there was any intent to operate an "unsafe" establishment, as Tiger tries to be a bit more upscale than the other bars around it. Tiger Group is so well placed that it didn't have to "cut corners" the way other Patong bars do. I think at the end of the day, the Patong municipality will be scrambling to explain why the bar was still open and how unsafe construction (if it is identified) was tolerated.

IMO Patong is a cesspool of corruption. Every bad quality of Thailand is magnified in this place, from the out of control tuk tuks, to the jetskis, to the barely controlled chaos that is Bangla, to the questionable business relationships of local officials. Every negative stereotype of Thailand is on full display between the Beach Rd and Rat U. I doubt that what goes on in Patong would be allowed anywhere else in Thailand.

[Jim walker]

Just a bit of background info on the building: There was a lot of plastic and fiberglass decoration to give it that jungle motif. As we know, when these products burn, they give off very thick smoke that is toxic that can kill in minutes. I wonder if any thought was given to the fire code when these items were installed? The Tiger was crammed into a space where only 2 sides of the property allowed for easy entry and exit.

Tiger Group spent a lot of money on this bar and it was often busy. I don't think there was any intent to operate an "unsafe" establishment, as Tiger tries to be a bit more upscale than the other bars around it. Tiger Group is so well placed that it didn't have to "cut corners" the way other Patong bars do. I think at the end of the day, the Patong municipality will be scrambling to explain why the bar was still open and how unsafe construction (if it is identified) was tolerated.

IMO Patong is a cesspool of corruption. Every bad quality of Thailand is magnified in this place, from the out of control tuk tuks, to the jetskis, to the barely controlled chaos that is Bangla, to the questionable business relationships of local officials. Every negative stereotype of Thailand is on full display between the Beach Rd and Rat U. I doubt that what goes on in Patong would be allowed anywhere else in Thailand.

I don't think there was any intent to operate an "unsafe" establishment if that was the case why did they rent an obvious Fire death trap building rather than one constructed with international standard material instead of that prefab half humpty shack of a building would it have been to save a few Baht’s at the end of the day I wonder

I don't think there was any intent to operate an "unsafe" establishment if that was the case why did they rent an obvious Fire death trap building rather than one constructed with international standard material instead of that prefab half humpty shack of a building would it have been to save a few Baht’s at the end of the day I wonder

[Jim walker]

I don't think there was any intent to operate an "unsafe" establishment if that was the case why did they rent an obvious Fire death trap building rather than one constructed with international standard material instead of that prefab half humpty shack of a building would it have been to save a few Baht’s at the end of the day I wonder

[dcutman]

This is a wood structure for the most part. Why did only the interior and exterior finishes burn, you would think a wood structure would be ashes after a fire like that. Seems the fuel for the fire was so flammable and burnt so fast it did not have time to start old wood on fire before it was spent.

[Basil B]

condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims.

There have been many incidents where loss of life was due to fire exit doors being chained closed, Santika and the Royal Jomtien just to name two.

I recall being in a bar off Walking St, Pattaya, only a few months after Santika at 10 in the evening and seeing crash-bars chained, needless to say I nether went there again.

Once again no doubt we will have Thai politicians saying they will do something about it,

[pete600]

If a plain gets delayed for 2 hrs and then crashes its still as much a disaster if it left on time. Very sad to hear about this fire in Phuket. But just because the club was opened 2 hrs later should have no baring on this. I been to Tiger club and I think after santika the fire inspectors learned a lot and yes 4 people have died but it could of also been 400 dead. So just maybe things are getting better and safer here. Rip to those who paid the ultimate price

But if the club was closed the fire would have still happened but there would have been no one in there

[cowslip]

have they started lying about the death-toll yet? apparently over a certain number of dead involves a major govt. inquiry, so they have to massage the figures below that waterline, isn't that so?

[cowslip]

If a plain gets delayed for 2 hrs and then crashes its still as much a disaster if it left on time. Very sad to hear about this fire in Phuket. But just because the club was opened 2 hrs later should have no baring on this. I been to Tiger club and I think after santika the fire inspectors learned a lot and yes 4 people have died but it could of also been 400 dead. So just maybe things are getting better and safer here. Rip to those who paid the ultimate price

But if the club was closed the fire would have still happened but there would have been no one in there

I think you need to re-think tour logic.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The usual over reaction from the usual suspects, hang em high lets wait for an investigation and see what happens. I spent 26 years in the Navy there is always two way out of each compartment it is your responsibility to know where these are located. Its the same in any big building or mall it is your responsibility to know how to get out. When I enter any large building especially night clubs I always know at least two ways out preferable the two that are closer too my location. One should do this where ever you are they lock and chain exits in the west as well too keep out the non paying crowd.

By the way transformers are hit by lighting on a regular basis as they are located in a high location and it seems they attract lighting. Even if they are not hit directly a near miss can cause a short and fire.

Good luck to the injured and a speedy recovery with their injuries,sorry about the dead best wishes too their families.

The problem is, there won't be any investigation, at least not any serious or meaningful one...

Start with the fact that the place was open at an hour when it shouldn't have been under local law.

Then add in the descriptions above by members who have visited the place of difficult, poorly designed/constructed escape/exit routes (leaving as unknown for the time whether any of the available exits were locked/chained as often is the custom here).

Then add in the comments above from a couple members who say the "owners" of this establishment are untouchable in that city...

Look at what happened in the aftermath of Santika... The police tried to falsely blame the fire on a musical act that night. The police official who supposedly was the owner or major investor in the pub was never held to account. The fact the place had been illegally operating and had been allowed to be illegally operating by local authorities never produced any consequence. And in the end, the only persons held accountable were the fireworks company and one guy from the club, who supposedly was little more than a parking attendant. Not to mention that as best as can be told, little meaningful compensation has ever been paid to the injured and families of the dead from that terrible night.

Nothing good or meaningful will come from the Tiger Disco fire. And the only certain thing is we'll all be waiting for the next time the same thing happens all over again. Because because this is Thailand, it surely will happen again.

Edited August 17, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[aguy30]

If the dam_n placed closed when it suppose to nobody would have died, no one. That's why it's important to say this.

Sure, and if the tourists did not come to Thailand and that bar, they would not not have died. Easy answer, all stay at home! What a interesting way of looking at it you have.

he is right.if it closed when it was supposed to no one would have died.this people died as a result of greed and people paying bribes to corrupt police .

I'm sure they died in a fire. Yes out of "usual" opening times, but would the outcome have been different if it happened at 1am?

had they closed on time nobody would be dead right?

Perhaps the answer is to completely close down all night clubs and discos in Thailand. If they are no longer allowed to operate then that will eliminate the chances of this happening again in that kind of establishment. Or, maybe tourists should no longer be allowed to enter Thailand or at least should not be allowed to enter a disco or night club during their visit. Now those sound like rather stupid statements, right? Well it isn't any more stupid than the pathetic TV jerks that somehow think this disaster is only about closing time.

Edited August 17, 2012 by aguy30

[brewsterbudgen]

The usual over reaction from the usual suspects, hang em high lets wait for an investigation and see what happens. I spent 26 years in the Navy there is always two way out of each compartment it is your responsibility to know where these are located. Its the same in any big building or mall it is your responsibility to know how to get out. When I enter any large building especially night clubs I always know at least two ways out preferable the two that are closer too my location. One should do this where ever you are they lock and chain exits in the west as well too keep out the non paying crowd.

By the way transformers are hit by lighting on a regular basis as they are located in a high location and it seems they attract lighting. Even if they are not hit directly a near miss can cause a short and fire.

Good luck to the injured and a speedy recovery with their injuries,sorry about the dead best wishes too their families.

The problem is, there won't be any investigation, at least not any serious or meaningful one...

Start with the fact that the place was open at an hour when it shouldn't have been under local law.

Then add in the descriptions above by members who have visited the place of difficult, poorly designed/constructed escape/exit routes (leaving as unknown for the time whether any of the available exits were locked/chained as often is the custom here).

Then add in the comments above from a couple members who say the "owners" of this establishment are untouchable in that city...

Look at what happened in the aftermath of Santika... The police tried to falsely blame the fire on a musical act that night. The police official who supposedly was the owner or major investor in the pub was never held to account. The fact the place had been illegally operating and had been allowed to be illegally operating by local authorities never produced any consequence. And in the end, the only persons held accountable were the fireworks company and one guy from the club, who supposedly was little more than a parking attendant. Not to mention that as best as can be told, little meaningful compensation has ever been paid to the injured and families of the dead from that terrible night.

Nothing good or meaningful will come from the Tiger Disco fire. And the only certain thing is we'll all be waiting for the next time the same thing happens all over again. Because because this is Thailand, it surely will happen again.

Fires in discos can and do happen anywhere.

[george]

UPDATE:

Tiger Disco Fire: Friend identifies watch, bracelet of missing Thai waitress

Phuket Gazette – Friday, August 17, 2012 8:57:00 PM

Workers sift through the ashes of what was the popular Tiger

Discotheque on Phuket's famed Soi Bangla.

Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

STUNNED: Royal Thai Police Assistant Commissioner-General

Lt Gen Chalermkiat Srivorakan stands agape as he assesses

the damage caused by the blaze. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: -- A Thai waitress who worked at the Tiger Discotheque may have been identified today after a friend recognized a wristwatch and a bracelet found on one of the four bodies incinerated by the blaze.

Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangkul today confirmed that several people had come forward to identify at least one of the four victims incinerated in the Tiger Discotheque inferno in Patong early this morning.

“I received reports of one French tourist and one Japanese tourist missing from guesthouses in the Patong area. I have just received another report from Patong Police about one missing Thai staffer who worked at Tiger Discotheque,” he confirmed to the Phuket Gazette.

The news follows several guesthouses today reporting guests who did not return to their hotels last night, Maj Gen Chonasit explained this afternoon.

Earlier today, several people arrived at Patong Police Station to file missing persons reports.

One officer told the Gazette, “One Thai woman who came to the police station said she recognized the wristwatch and bracelet of her friend when she went to see the body at Patong Hospital.

“She said her friend worked as a waitress at Tiger Discotheque. She [the victim] was around 20 years old and originally came from Sukhothai province.”

The officer added that two Frenchmen, both tourists, also arrived at Patong Police Station to report that their friend had been missing since last night.

“They thought their friend might be one of the bodies found at Tiger Discotheque,” he said.

One Japanese tourist also came to the police station to report a friend who had been missing since last night, the officer added.

The officer declined to name Thai staffer, the French tourist or the Japanese tourist reported as missing.

Maj Gen Chonasit said that one of the bodies is believed to have been female or a transgender person, called katoey in Thai.

“I am not sure if it is the body of female or transgender person, but there were silicone implants under the breasts,” he said.

However, he added, “We can’t be 100 per cent sure who the person is until the body is formally identified at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bangkok.”

The news follows Royal Thai Police Assistant Commissioner-General Lt Gen Chalermkiat Srivorakan arriving from Bangkok this afternoon to see with his own eyes the devastation the fire had caused.

Lt Gen Chalermkiat confirmed that he had ordered the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bangkok to take over the daunting task of identifying the four victims trapped in the blaze.

“We have assigned officers from Office of Forensic Science from Bangkok to investigate the cause of the fire. I have also ordered that all four bodies be sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bangkok for identification.

“No one from the institute in Bangkok has arrived yet. A team from Provincial Police Region 8 came down today to check, but I have yet to receive any report [from them],” he added.

“I will also check for the operating hours of this place, but the most important thing at this stage is to determine the cause of fire and to identify the bodies,” Lt Gen Chalermkiat said.

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-08-17

[yougivemebaby]

If the dam_n placed closed when it suppose to nobody would have died, no one. That's why it's important to say this.

Sure, and if the tourists did not come to Thailand and that bar, they would not not have died. Easy answer, all stay at home! What a interesting way of looking at it you have.

+1

--5

The fact is maybe rescue could have been there quicker if they were within normal operating hours. Facts are facts. This could have been avoided if they followed the law. No one is ever held responsible down there for what would be considered criminal in many other places. The joint was packed. The police and owners need to be held responsible in a criminal manner. They broke the law simple as that.

[slipperx]

Tiger Group are amongst the top of the big cheese in Patong. All the night clubs bribe the police upwards of 200,000 baht a month to stay open longer. Disco typically start to fill up around 1.00 am and are pt

Retry quiet until then. If the closed at 2.00 am the would soon be broke. The local police tip off the owners when the big boys from Bangkok visit as part of the service. It is absolute corruption. There are practically no standards held in place for Patongs buildings which is the norm in Thailand and even if there were Thai society would just ignore them as money is everything here and corruption is very healthy thank you very much. Much like everywhere in the world the real villains are rarely held to book but unlike most places no- one cares about this. The justice system is incapable of fighting the organized criminal families who run the place and aided by an equally corrupt set of lawyers in Phuket. They have no respect for the law, for justice and have no compunction in accepting a bribe to make sure the client who is paying them loses the case - as I say money is everything and there are less than no morals.

The fire certainly didn't start from a transformer struck by lightening in Rat u this road - way too far away. I think it highly likely it didn't start from a transformer outside supposedly struck two hours earlier in a place buzzing with people. Far more credible is that it came from the shoddy electrical work done on the new rig which was inexplicably removed immediately afterwards and you can bet the police would have been there for their share. The Tiger lawyer looks like a spin and speaks in the same ilk - if he expects anyone to believe the place was shut and sheltering 70 odd people then he must need his head examined - it is incredulous that he would make such an idiotic and easily refuted statement.

As for the Tiger executive - another load of amok and mirrors - the Asian way is to lie and deceive to the maximum extent and even to the degree that it is plainly a lie because it is 'very bad' to actually state someone is lying probably taught to kids from an early age because of the ludicrous defamation laws and risk of ruin for actually saying the truth if it hurts someone with enough money to give you the trouble.

RIP to the dead. Disgust at the system which allows the rich to escape eventhe slightest discomfort from any wrong the commit. Thailand is suffering greatly from the malady of corruption which infests its society to the core and this sort of thing is the consequence. If it were not for corruption the richer sorts would take more dare for fear of the consequences, more laws would be in place to control buildings and safety and the police would be more inclined to do their job instead of actively being engaged in crime and those people would still be alive.

It is sad. Thailand is strangling itself. Suicide of a country with it's hands tied behind its back by corruption - maybe apt.

[harrycallahan]

If one of you guys had have gone in there at 3:40AM with a non-lethal stink bomb and released it then the place would have been evacuated and no one would have died. But you didn't, and 4 people did die. So we blame.... ?

"But we didn't know there was going to be a fire after 4am", you say. True, and neither did the disco owner, and their decision to remain open had nothing to do with the cause of the tragedy which was a fire which was no more likely to happen at that time than any other time.

yougivemebaby above, they didn't die because they weren't rescued, they died because they didn't make it out. When an enclosed building with lots of people inside is on fire the issue is getting people OUT through the limited exits not getting rescuers more victims inside.

And what if it was legal to be open at that time and the same thing happened? Do you call for the laws to be changed so those 4am fires can be avoided?

[peter48]

In the light of the above cogent critical comment maybe the national embassies from where these poor victims come need to put more pressure on Thailand to get their act together or maybe more blunt publicity back home especially for youngsters about the risks of the Land of Smiles either way it all sounds far too softly, softly.

[peter48]

The cogent comment I refer to is of course Slipperx not all those apologists here trying to excuse a society with some of the highest tourist accident and fatality rates. Thailand has many fine things - our grumble is the dangers of tourist hotspots and the blind ignorance to putting babies on motor cycles etc., I would guess It does not happen in all other Asian countries especially the Tiger economies.

Edited August 17, 2012 by peter48

[vincentc]

I am a lucky Santika inferno survivor and it was sad to see on the TV images of the aftermath that it all looked pretty much the same. No fire proof materials at all, the place totally burned out.

So absolutely no lessons learned after what happened 3 years ago in Bangkok and took 66 lives.

Not that i'm surprised about this in the-land-of-who-cares, but it's just too sad as very basic fire proofing regulations could again have saved lives. Maybe next time?

[gk10002000]

I too walked by that Bangkok disco just two days before it burned. I have walked by Lucifer's disco in Pattaya many times on all my trips and have made it a point to NOT go in there. I grew up in Rhode Island, USA and remember the Station disco fire. There was a photo of bodies piled up at the exit about 7 layers deep. Still not sure why people weren't grabbing and pulling people off the top. Might have just been a still snapshot and the action wasn't recorded.

The article on the BKK post said it was raining and people were hanging around inside after hours to stay dry. Probably somewhat true. But you know how these places work. Exit doors, if there ever are enough and easily marked and accesible, don't usually have properly working "Panic bars". So the owners secure them or have workers man them. Then all the issues of people always trying to sneak in, or sneak things in. Doors even if working are often blocked (innocently enough) with boxes, or cases of beer bottles to be returned, etc. All gets in the way during a panic situation.

Brings back one of my boy scout memories. I actually went on a fire inspection trip with my town fire chief. Went to a new condominum complex. Place was new and almost completed and ready for occupancy. We opened the door to the big stairwell, he waited until the door closed and said "see? There is no light in here". Wow. Something I would not have noticed because it was during the day and there was a small skylight that gave enough light during the day anyway to walk down the stairs. But add a panic situation and smoke ... Darn fire codes DO usually have a good reason.

[Kaker]

i don't know if anyone's ever been in the new Spicy in CM, but the top floor is terrifying...there are no exits at all. only one narrow stairwell leading to the bottom floor. if a fire to blaze there, everyone would be fkd.

I haven't been there and from what you describe, it's indeed a place to avoid. In the west such locations aren't allowed to open without the approval of the fire department. I know what some of us here keep repeating;TIT.. but what about the respect for all living beings, referring to their Buddhist teachings ?

Do you mean that illegal after-hours night clubs in the West aren't allowed to open without the approval of the fire department, or that there aren't any such clubs in the West?

Edited August 17, 2012 by Kaker