TIGER DISCO FIRE

[duke007]

Phuket Tourist Blaze: Four Dead,

Eleven Injured as Fire Rips After-Hours Patong Disco

By Alan Morison in Soi Bangla, Patong

Friday, August 17, 2012

PHUKET: Fire ravage an after-hours discotheque on Phuket early today, killing four people and injuring 11 more, according to early reports.

The fire in Patong, Phuket's west coast tourist hub, is reported to have broken out at 3.55am, almost two hours after all bars and other venues in Patong are supposed to close.

At 6am. the area around the old Tiger Discotheque off Patong's Soi Bangla remained under tight police control, with a large crowd of onlookers held back as ambulances reversed one by one down the laneway to pick up bodies.

This report is coming LIVE from the Platinum bar on the laneway corner with Soi Bangla, where go-go dancers usually gyrate.

There is nothing but sadness is Patong today.

At Patong Hospital, authorities were unable to pinpoint precisely how many injured had been caught by the fire, but a nurse did say that one man was critically burned and in danger.

Forensic police went in to the fire scene a short time ago, to check the cause of the blaze. It is believed the bodies are still inside.

Only when they are examined will it be known whether they are tourists or Thais. Almost certainly, some tourists are among the dead and injured.

The Tiger group had recently built and opened its own new Tiger bar complex in Soi Bangla, reportedly because the rents charged for much of the nightlife premises had grown too high.

After a large fire in Bangkok killed scores of people on New Year's Eve a couple of years ago, Phuket authorities conducted a crackdown on venues on Phuket.

The old Tiger Discotheque was one of the venues checked by the then governor for safety exits.

This morning's blaze ripped through the premises at the back of the Tiger complex, exposing beams along about 30 metres of the structure.

Firemen were climbing stairs to complete the mopping up process. Presumably, the stairs were the way that some people escaped the inferno.

Patong is currently in the middle of an election campaign for mayor, with the incumbent, Pian Keesin, standing again and hoping to win on September 2.

This morning's tragedy is likely to highlight safety as a critical issue for Phuket tourism - but in a different way to the murder of Australian tourist Michelle Smith, who was knifed in a bag snatch on June 20.

From my seat at Platinum, I can see the tattered remains of a large sign above the Tiger, advertising a big That boxing fight on August 24.

By then, the number of dead and injured, the cause of the blaze and the future of Patong will be plain.

[bumblebee]

Shocking but alas not surprising to hear about the deaths. I am sure we have all been in venues in Los and for a brief moment had the sobering thought "What if there was a fire?" and looked around to see no obvious ways out except the entrance we came in. From what I recall the lower bar complex would be easy to evacuate in the Tiger, and there was one main entrance to the upstairs facing onto Bangla, perhaps a second has been built since I was last there.

[duke007]

As you can see from the pic below how close Cocktail & Dreams is from the fire, here is an update from jimbo

"Just been down to check if Patong's most important entertainment venue is ok, and am happy to report that all seems well. However the power is off, and the area roped off, so i'm not sure if we'll be able to function tonight, given the thai lack of urgency.

Once again the barowners in soi Tiger are going to suffer. There is a fair bit of damage, mainly from the rescue efforts, and there's no way they'll be opening tonight.

Just waiting for more news on the casualties. No consolation, but if this had occurred in High Season, we could have been looking at hundreds dead"

[pdogg]

 

PHUKET: More than than a year after a fatal blaze killed four people at Patong’s famous Tiger Disco nightclub on August 17 last year, the nightclub’s operators will be called to Phuket Court to enter a plea to charges of negligence causing death.

 

“Tiger Group CEO Piya Isaramalai and Sara Entertainment Co Ltd each face a charge under Section 291 of the Thai Criminal Code: Causing Death through Negligence. They also face charges of causing physical and mental injury and trading after hours,” Phuket Chief Public Prosecutor Chiengsean Panhya confirmed to the Phuket Gazette this week.

 

“The suspects were formally charged on July 10. The next court appearance will be on September 2,” Mr Chiengsean said.

 

On that day, the defendants will be called upon to enter a plea, he added.

 

“They will be also asked to explain what evidence they have to support their plea,” Mr Chiengsean explained.

 

Although the trial is to be held in Phuket, the case had to be approved by the Public Prosecutor’s regional head office in Surat Thani to present in court, he added.

 

The long-awaited trial comes after a series of delays in securing evidence, despite Thailand’s leading forensic police being dispatched from Bangkok to investigate the fire (story here).

 

It also comes after a damning report by the Building Society Inspectors and Officers Association (BSA) and the Association of Siamese Architects (ASA), which cited failure by nightclub management to adhere to multiple fire-safety regulations.

 

The disco had improper placement of fire extinguishers and faulty emergency-exit ladders, and used a highly-flammable foam for wall and ceiling decorations, said the report (story here).

 

Some of the emergency-exit ladders were found to be too short to reach the ground, which matches witness reports of individuals being forced to jump from the burning building.

 

The report also supported evidence that the decorations on the ceilings and walls of the building were made of highly flammable expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam, which is now illegal to use inside buildings.

 

The forensics report, months in coming, identified the cause of the fire as an electrical short circuit under the ceiling at the front of the building, Maj Gen Chonasit Wattanavrangkul, who was Provincial Police Commander at the time, confirmed with Patong Police.

 

“The spark set alight the ceiling and the wall, both of which were coated with highly flammable EPS foam,” he explained.

 

The popular night venue erupted into flames just before 4am, while hundreds of patrons were still inside (story here).

 

British tourist Michael Tzouvanni, 24, French tourist Emmanuel Becard, 30, and Thai nationals Duangporn Budklor, 34, and Nipaphat Sudtasorn, 36, all died in the inferno.

 

Days later, scores of people from Patong’s entertainment industry turned out at a memorial event to mourn those lost to the fire (story here).

 

The legal counsel for Tiger Discotheque, Thamrongsak Boonrak, confirmed this week that Tiger Group CEO Piya Isaramalai posted bail on July 10.

 

“Mr Piya was allowed to post bail by the court on that day. We bailed him out with cash,” he said.

 

“It does not matter how much we paid to post bail. He is not going anywhere,” he added.

 

Mr Thamrongsak was confident in successfully defending the manslaughter charges, which carry a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison or a fine of up to 20,000 baht.

 

“We are not afraid to fight the charges because we are innocent. It was an accident,” he assured.

 

“We have all the evidence we need to prove that it was a lightning strike that night. It was not our fault at all,” he said.

 

Atipong Thongyon, chief of the PEA Patong office, on August 18 – the day after the fire – refuted allegations that the blaze was caused by an exploding transformer (story here).

 

“We also have evidence to prove that the Patong office of the Provincial Electricity Authority is hiding from us,” Mr Thamrongsak alleged.

 

“They should check their power cables and poles for public safety. The electrical wires are all old; they better check and make it safe,” he said.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/Tiger-Disco-date-set-for-trial-over-lethal-Phuket-fire-21985.html

[Tomcat]

Some of the electrical wiring i seen in S E Asia leaves a lot to be desired and this terrible tragedy does not surprise me. Third world i suppose so nothing will change for 20 years... you take your chances

[Foggy]

 "maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison or a fine of up to 20,000 baht."

 

With life so cheap here why let people's safety get in the way of a profit   

 

"emergency-exit ladders were found to be too short to reach the ground," 

 

Unbelievable muppets, but this is Thailand at its best      

[Hefe]

 I am sure we have all been in venues in Los and for a brief moment had the sobering thought "What if there was a fire?" and looked around to see no obvious ways out except the entrance we came in.

 

 

Everytime I walk into Nana Plaza.........

[SiamSam]

Everytime I walk into Nana Plaza.........

 

Yup I thought of this myself on numerous occasions. At least when I was sober.