Court Upholds 5.7m Baht Ruling Against City Over 2009 Santika Nightclub Fire

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Court Upholds 5.7m Baht Ruling Against City Over 2009 Nightclub Fire

By Teeranai Charuvastra, Staff Reporter -

   

Rescue workers at the scene of the Santika nightclub fire on Jan. 1, 2009.

 

BANGKOK — The high court on Monday upheld a lower court’s ruling that City Hall’s negligence contributed to the deaths of 67 people in a nightclub fire eight years ago on New Year’s Eve.

 

In its ruling, the Supreme Administrative Court ordered the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to pay a total of 5.7 million baht to victims and families of those who died at Santika in an incident ranked as one of the worst fire tragedies in Thai history.

 

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/courts/2016/11/01/court-upholds-5-7m-baht-ruling-city-2009-nightclub-fire/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2016-11-01

[waldroj]

Yingluck would see the cynical side of this decision. She is made liable for her part in government failure, yet it would seem that no one in BMA is to be taken to task for their (lack of) accountability over the incident. 

 

The same could be said for the "responsible" officials over the boarding school fire in Chiang Mai, as the Khaosod English article observes:

"...The incident prompted promises of more stringent fire safety measures from the authorities but further incidents have shown the regulations have been unevenly enforced..."

 

Need a bigger stick, or a serious threat to insert the carrot. 

[inactiveposter]

My math says life has little value here (surprise).


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

[Basil B]

Yes, there should be serious investigations into "Dereliction of duty" & "Corruption", and the investigation should start at the top and work it's way down not the over way as seems the norm.

 

Yesterday in the UK a lorry driver was sent down for 10 years for accidentally killing 4 people while being distracted while changing the music on his phone, so in the case of the  Santika nightclub fire if a number of public officials went down for  "Dereliction of duty" or "Corruption" may just be a warning to others and may save some lives in the future. 

[Emster23]

Works out to 85k baht per dead person. Paltry, and will be paid for by taxpayers anyway. Long jail time only thing that might be understood.

[Basil B]

2 minutes ago, inactiveposter said:

My math says life has little value here (surprise).


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

 

850,000B that's a lot by Thai standards, I think you may be thinking 1st world standards.

[ExpatOilWorker]

4 minutes ago, Basil B said:

 

850,000B that's a lot by Thai standards, I think you may be thinking 1st world standards.

 

Do you want to be my banker?

[Basil B]

1 minute ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

 

Do you want to be my banker?

Ops, one too may noughts...

[KamnanT]

3 minutes ago, Basil B said:

Ops, one too may noughts...

 

There were only 12 plaintiffs in the civil case, so that works out to an average of THB 475,000 each.  Still not a lot by Western standards, but a lot more than is normally offered in cases of so-called "accidental" death in Thailand.

[aussie11950]

Is this really Thailand showing responsibility. 

That's a welcome change from "Mai Pben Rai"

 

[ozterix]

1 hour ago, Basil B said:

 

850,000B that's a lot by Thai standards, I think you may be thinking 1st world standards.

no it's your math that suffers

 

[Siameaze]

But no responsibility nor a payment with any dignity for the girl's school fire. 

[Lamkyong]

they shouldn't   count their chickens yet the incident was 8 years ago   how long to wait for payments  ???

[Minnehaha]

2 hours ago, inactiveposter said:

My math says life has little value here (surprise).


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

 

2,430 US$, assuming 67 persons ... 

In Thailand life is usually valued at around $40,000 or 1.4 MB.

You can estimate this figure many ways - civil law suits, criminal law suits (easy to do) and also look at insurance policies ... many of the foreign policies I have seen pay out 2 MB for loss of life. 

I am no lawyer or actuary, but $2,300 is paltry. 

Would the court factor in amounts paid by the owner who was found liable (and any others)? I dont think they would. It is not logical. Sharing blame does not mean sharing penalty fees or liability amounts, I don't think. 

[lvr181]

2 hours ago, Emster23 said:

Works out to 85k baht per dead person. Paltry, and will be paid for by taxpayers anyway. Long jail time only thing that might be understood.

 

"Long jail time only thing that might be understood."  Unfortunately, this is a "money" culture  - very little else is really understood.  

[sendintheclowns]

4 hours ago, lvr181 said:

 

"Long jail time only thing that might be understood."  Unfortunately, this is a "money" culture  - very little else is really understood.  

an observation that is bang on the money. If one reads a bit about Thai sociological structures; it is built,mostly on money and power. What is paramount is that you do not lose that power, by having to go to jail. If you can protect your power, you can trade it off to others, who will do your bidding, in order to share in your power. This is evidenced by what disgusts most westerners here, when a hi-so or politician kills. the list is endless and the only way to stay sane is to stat believing in karma. But, what do I know?

[Jonmarleesco]

Lucky for them that they're not in the U.S. or the U.K., where criminal negligence would have been just one charge, and the fine a couple of zeroes more with a $/₤ sign preceding it.

 

Farcical!

[simonuk]

speechless...

Edited November 1, 2016 by simonuk

[Grubster]

7 hours ago, Jonmarleesco said:

Lucky for them that they're not in the U.S. or the U.K., where criminal negligence would have been just one charge, and the fine a couple of zeroes more with a $/₤ sign preceding it.

 

Farcical!

I'm not sure how much was paid out to the textile workers in NY when a couple hundred died in a fire as they were locked into their work place, 100 or so years ago. Jumping 10 floors or more to their deaths. Thats what started unions in the US, Now the unions are gone and we farmed the jobs out to countries that do the same. Nice the USA.

[gemguy]

16 hours ago, Basil B said:

Yes, there should be serious investigations into "Dereliction of duty" & "Corruption", and the investigation should start at the top and work it's way down not the over way as seems the norm.

 

Yesterday in the UK a lorry driver was sent down for 10 years for accidentally killing 4 people while being distracted while changing the music on his phone, so in the case of the  Santika nightclub fire if a number of public officials went down for  "Dereliction of duty" or "Corruption" may just be a warning to others and may save some lives in the future.

Yes that is how it should be and can be...while that is the way it is in numerous "other" countries

However with the "My Ba Lie" attitude and the "My Pen Rai" collective thinking amongst the Thai people it will be a long time coming before you see any preventative measures kind of collective thinking and practiced widespread.

A spicy Som Tum meal is what preoccupies their collective minds....lol

Cheers

[Monkeyrobot]

Why city hall ? Why not the owners of the club ?

[Basil B]

50 minutes ago, Monkeyrobot said:

Why city hall ? Why not the owners of the club ?

 

Presume they are being sued too...

 

But I bet all their money has been well hidden.

[adhd]

life is cheap in thailand