Students to Bed Down Again at School Where 17 Girls Just Burnt to Death

[webfact]

Students to Bed Down Again at School Where 17 Girls Just Burnt to Death
By Sasiwan Mokkhasen
Staff Reporter


Forty-one students returned to Pitakkiet Witthaya School in Chiang Rai on Monday one week after 17 of their classmates died there in a fire.

CHIANG RAI — A week after a tragic fire killed at least 17 of its young students, the Pitakkiet Witthaya School reopened today without any apparent safety inspection and after raising millions of baht in donations.

Since closing May 22, the school has collected 14 million baht it says will be given Friday to those affected. Chiang Rai Gov. Boonsong Techamaneesathit, who was not present Monday for the reopening, will make an appearance Friday to personally hand over the donated money before the assembled press corps.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1464589324

-- Khaosod English 2016-05-30

[clockman]

Life is cheap! East is East!

[2008bangkok]

Doubt they have even learnt the lesson and put up fire alarms now, as Clockman says life is way to cheap here and the lack of accountability is even worse on ALL levels.

[williamgeorgeallen]

hope the girls sleeping there dont undergo any type of trauma. most thais are crazy scared of ghosts. many thais i know said they would not go to phuket because of the ghosts from the tsunami.

[BlindMagician]

Only in Thailand can they lower the bar even lower than it is possible to lower the bar.

Number one of impossibly low bars.

Making a show of handing over money for killing 17 children!

Letting more children sleep on site so soon after 17 were burned to death!

Anything been done to make the place safe!?

How cheap indeed...Mai Ben Rai?

[gandalf12]

Only in Thailand can they lower the bar even lower than it is possible to lower the bar.

Number one of impossibly low bars.

Making a show of handing over money for killing 17 children!

Letting more children sleep on site so soon after 17 were burned to death!

Anything been done to make the place safe!?

How cheap indeed...Mai Ben Rai?

If the bar gets any lower it will be on the other side of the world

[gandalf12]

These children deserve a lot better than this. It is a scandal that they are treated like this

[HerbalEd]

Even after the tragic deaths of 17 children, the school officials ... nor the Thai government ... can be bothered to do a safety inspection. I assume this also means they aren't bothering to put in smoke alarms.

[SOTIRIOS]

...worse than perverse....

...nobody was attending to the innocent victims that were incinerated....

...and they were rewarded with millions.....

..sick.....sick....sick......

...nobody to blame again....???

...and how about the families of the victims.....???

...oh never mind...they are back in business...

.."Next!"......

.

[The stuttering parrot]

What about the counselling for the kids?

Some of them just lost their mate and best friends.

The sensible parents have kept their kids home and some are never to return.

Can't believe this thread is in the Chiang Rai thread. I thought this tragic event and aftermath would be main stream news.

Shame on the school and shame on the authorities to allow all this to happen in the space of a week.

[villagefarang]

Everything about this whole story, from beginning to end, sets off alarm bells with me. I am not in the ranks of those who are sure that everything will be handled transparently and will be above suspicion. These kinds of tragedies lend themselves to emotional responses instead of rational thought and there are always people who know how to manipulate the emotional element to their own benefit.

[bangon04]

Even after the tragic deaths of 17 children, the school officials ... nor the Thai government ... can be bothered to do a safety inspection. I assume this also means they aren't bothering to put in smoke alarms.

at least they have changed the sheets....

[Siamwhiteelephant]

“… without any apparent safety inspection and after raising millions of baht in donations”

Scandalous. This is the corrupt mentality that defies rational thinking and which we can’t fathom

[The stuttering parrot]

Yes blind Magican just when you think the bar could not possibly go lower somehow someone manages to achieve a new depth!

[webfact]

Parents relocate 22 kids to new school amid safety concern after tragic fire

CHIANG RAI: -- Nightmare continue to haunt the girl students of a remote hill tribe village school in Chiang Rai province after a tragic fire killed 17 of their classmates on May 22. Now parents have relocated 22 children from the school to other schools.

This was revealed as the svhool, Pitak Kiat Withaya school, reopened first day of resumption of classes for students yesterday.

But the first, no lessons were taught as teachers wanted their students to enjoy a lighter and fun filled first day.

To alleviate some of these concerns, the teachers instead chose to allow the students to play musical instruments and play games to relieve the tension.

Many parents however have not recovered from the recent disaster that occurred.

They have removed 22 children from the school fearing for the safety of their children.

These were made up of parents of female students who were at the school at the time of the fire.

Chiang Rai Region Office of the Private Education Commission will be handling the responsibility for finding new schools for these students as well as returning their school fees.

But parents of more than 50 students were seen arriving to drop their children off for classes which is a much smaller than regular 142 students that the school receives.

Many did not immediately leave as they normally did and chose to stay on a while longer to keep an eye on the safety of their children.

So far donations received for victims of the fire now amounted in total to more than 14 million baht.

Meanwhile chief investigation police officer Pol Maj-Gen Songtham Alapart said so far the police have investigated 50 witnesses to find the actual cause of the tragic fire at the girl dormitory.

He said that the investigation team was expected to wrap up the full investigation by next week.

The police have ruled out accident as cause of the fire and are now concentrating on carelessness and fire precaution measures at the school before considering who will be held responsible for this incident.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/165405


-- Thai PBS 2016-05-31

[whatproblem]

Safety is only a word in Thailand ,to speak safety is enough here ,not need to do ,disgusting lack of competence and concern

[SOTIRIOS]

....duhh....

...I will say it again because nobody seems to give a da*n....

...the innocent victims that were burnt to a crisp were apparently left unattended....and yet....nobody is to blame....

[gandalf12]

Ok, so they have received a lot of money, this begs the question where is this money going? If they are using the school that was burnt down it definitely isnt going into rebuilding it. Have the parents of the children had any money paid to them?

They have tried to do the best they can for their children only to have the tragic circumstances thrown on them. The very least the authorities can do is give decent compensation to the families even though no mount of money could ever compensate for the loss of a child.

A new, properly equipped school should be built for the children. By that I mean a school where safety is top priority and not just a game of words. These children could with the right facilities done great things for the country. If they are not adequately provided for then it is a disgrace that all the people of Thailand must shoulder responsibility for.

[connda]

Lightening seldom strikes in the same place twice.

[Remi080]

Make me so sick to see and read this. Pour kids. In what year do we live!! Stone age??

Thats your future what is sitting on the da#n floor in front of you.

Not even chairs and table's for these kids. In the most pour part of Africa they have better schools and skilled teachers.

But Thai fails again. Like my last post said: things will never change here. 17 young lives are gone, fix it with money will do.

Try to raise more money to build a decent safe furnished facility would be much better.

[tuanku]

Ok, so they have received a lot of money, this begs the question where is this money going? If they are using the school that was burnt down it definitely isnt going into rebuilding it. Have the parents of the children had any money paid to them?

They have tried to do the best they can for their children only to have the tragic circumstances thrown on them. The very least the authorities can do is give decent compensation to the families even though no mount of money could ever compensate for the loss of a child.

A new, properly equipped school should be built for the children. By that I mean a school where safety is top priority and not just a game of words. These children could with the right facilities done great things for the country. If they are not adequately provided for then it is a disgrace that all the people of Thailand must shoulder responsibility for.

These are hill tribe children. In the eyes of many Thais, they are not Thai at all. They may or may not be have citizenship. Using the money to build a proper, safe school for the community would be a way of creating some kind of memorial for the children who died, but who is collecting and distributing the funds. It is sure as hell not the hill tribe community so they are unlikely to be consulted in how it is used. I doubt there are transparent accounts being kept of donations received and money allocated, but I could be wrong.

I would suggest the fact that children are returning here reflects the lack of choice the parents have. The article implies the 22 who have not returned do not yet have an alternative and it is up to the local authorities to find them one.

Add to that the fact that fire safety will, at least be uppermost in the minds of admin and staff at the school until the memories fade in a few months time so it is probably a lot safer than it was before the fire.

[D3030]

Make me so sick to see and read this. Pour kids. In what year do we live!! Stone age??

Thats your future what is sitting on the da#n floor in front of you.

Not even chairs and table's for these kids. In the most pour part of Africa they have better schools and skilled teachers.

But Thai fails again. Like my last post said: things will never change here. 17 young lives are gone, fix it with money will do.

Try to raise more money to build a decent safe furnished facility would be much better.

Talk is cheap..

So, continue to critize and come up with more of your recommendations, that you will not contribute anytime or money to..

[Fookhaht]

Am I the only one who sees that headline as a bit revolting?

[KC 71]

Very sad to hear this story.

I thought it was a nice touch what Steve(Hangover Bar) organised with the bike run for charity- fair play to him for that.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[simon43]

I'm at the opposite end of the country. Could someone local to this school pop over and install some smoke alarms? Such a simple action may save the lives of the other students.

[villagefarang]

Quoted from local press.

“CHIANG RAI -At a press conference on Friday, experts from the Council of Engineers and the Building Safety Inspectors and Officers Association recommended that dormitories and schools install smoke alarms to prevent any fatalities caused by fire.

The two agencies and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) suggested that schools and dormitories install smoke alarms which can detect smoke and send out a signal within 60 seconds. They also advised that a fire exit be built to enable people to escape a fire in time.”

Thais know there is a problem but working around laws, bureaucracy, enforcement and influence is not a simple task. It is a Thai problem and they will sort it out eventually.