NFPA examines Bangkok nightclub fire

Jan. 12, 2010

My previous blog post was about monitoring of the city's surveillance cameras in Phuket, Thailand, and it seems I'm on a Thai theme today (maybe some panang curry is in store for dinner?). I just read an excellent article by Pichaya Chantranuwat, the managing director of fire safety consulting firm Fusion Fire Safety in Bangkok, that addressed a nightclub fire on Jan. 1, 2009, at the Santika Pub in Bangkok. That fire left 66 dead, and when you read Chantranuwat's article, you can see clearly the fire code violations and the cascading failure of safety precautions which led to this deadly incident.

For anyone operating a nightclub or other venue, I would highly suggest you read his article "Remembering Santika", which is published in its entirety in the online version of the January 2010 issue of the NFPA Journal. The only positive outcome of this fire, reports Chantranuwat, is that the government is already examining improving fire-safety regulations for nightclubs and other entertainment venues in the nation.

-Geoff