Pattaya fire safety much improved since deadly 1997 hotel fire

PATTAYA:--As the height of Pattaya’s skyline grows ever greater, so does the risk posed by fire.

Ever since “The Towering Inferno” blazed across movie screens in 1974, the specter of high-rise fires has distressed condominium owners and hotel guests around the world, sometimes for good reason. In 1997, at least 91 people at Pattaya’s Royal Jomtien Resort died when a leaking cooking-gas cylinder ignited in a ground-floor restaurant, sweeping fire through 12 of the hotel’s 17 floors.

Pattaya Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department officials say high-rise safety has improved immensely since the tragedy at the Royal Jomtien. Unlike today’s tall buildings, that hotel lacked any active fire-suppression system, had unpressurized stairwells, was missing self-closers on upper-floor doors and had no fire-stoppers in elevator shafts. Making matters worse, the hotel was stocked with combustible wood and vinyl furnishings not treated with fire retardants.

Full story:http://www.pattayamail.com/localnews/pattaya-fire-safety-much-improved-since-deadly-1997-hotel-fire-22858

-- Pattaya Mail 2013-03-01

Wow. Only 16 years for these 'improvements' to be made? Way to go.

I invite the fire safety inspector to take a stroll thru TukCom and explain how all those people will get out in an emergency.

The place is a fire trap with the corridors & entry lobby packed with goods for sale.

No way a panicking crowd will escape.