Burning questions
Re: "83 city pubs closed as fire toll hits 15", (BP, Aug 7).
To give credit where credit is due, my heartiest congratulations to Bangkok mayor Chadchart for rapidly working with local city police and temporarily closing 83 of the city's 400 pubs which didn't meet safety standards. That's light years better than the normal government knee-jerk of giving orders for inspection, etc, but not informing us of results. But what do Chadchart's closures mean? Do those left open comply with all safety standards, including building codes, usage of fire-retardant materials, fire control systems, insurance coverage, etc? If not, when will they fully comply? How will patrons know which pubs are in full compliance -- and which are not?
Pol Maj Gen Atthasit Kitchalan, chief of Chon Buri police, is also to be praised for quickly transferring senior cops pending investigation of why Mountain B could operate without proper licences. But were the moves just to move rogue cops out of the public eye? For example, were any cops moved after the 2009 Santika pub fire, where 66 died, found guilty? Why weren't effective steps taken to prevent a recurrence, like what happened at Mountain B?
The Interior Ministry ordered provincial governors to regularly inspect pubs and related businesses and report back monthly. Given that the BMA inspected 400 pubs over the weekend, why the delay in reporting how safe the provincial pubs are?
Burin Kantabutra
Fuelled by corruption
Re: "Don't skimp on pub safety", (BP, Aug 6).
Having lived in Thailand for almost 30 years now, based in Pattaya for the last four, the latest fire at Mountain B pub in the province is, in my opinion, once again the result of rampant corruption by the authorities.
When I see discotheques in Walking Street, some accommodating 500 guests per night, one I know of with an entrance "tunnel" hardly two metres wide, a disaster is looming. In case of an accident, everyone would storm towards this entrance, the main fire exit probably 35m on the other end. I suspect such places are only able to operate, as someone in the administration (or many) is, "on the take", to let them operate under such hazardous conditions. If I am correct, the law now would require them to close at 2am. Most of them don't close before 5am. Very popular ones outside of this area operate until 8am. Guests at the wee hours are heavily intoxicated and are hardly able to move in disaster conditions.
Peter
Covid bed shortages
Re: "28,000 new cases a day reported in last week", (BP, Aug 5).
I took my one-year son to a private hospital in Bangkok with a high-grade fever and was initially told to take him home to await PCR results which came out positive. I managed to get him a bed 24 hours later at the same hospital where his condition thankfully soon improved. However, I believe that the average waiting period should be shorter due to the fact he initially had a false negative rapid antigen test and was first admitted to the regular infectious diseases ward. So they were stuck with him when the unexpected positive PCR result came in.
As the only member of my household to avoid infection I escaped to Hua Hin. Friends here tell me that the situation in Hua Hin is the same as Bangkok with no beds available for Covid patients. Meanwhile, I see European tourists wandering around the shopping malls without masks, blissfully unaware that they will not be admitted to hospital promptly if they get a serious case of Covid, whether they have medical insurance or not.
George Morgan
