A majority of people are not satisfied with the government's handling of the chemical fire at a factory producing plastic foam and pellets in Samut Prakan's Bang Phli district on July 5, adding that more importance should be given to disaster relief work, according to the result of an opinion survey by Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, or Suan Dusit Poll.
The poll was conducted online on 1,266 people throughout the country on July 6-9. The respondents were allowed to choose more than one answer.
A majority -- 66.51% -- of the respondents were not satisfied with the government's handling of the situation. The rest were satisfied.
Asked to comment on the incident, 88.54% of the respondents said it was violent and destructive; 83.87% said there was a shortage of firefighting equipment; 82.13% said the response to the fire was rather slow; 76.68% said the death of a firefighter and injuries caused by the fire made them sad; and 41.58% said the cause of the fire should be quickly determined.
Asked what actions should be taken in the wake of the fire, 92.00% said all factories should be regularly inspected; 89.78% said the people affected should be compensated and all should undergo health examinations; 78.45% said there should be an early warning system and evacuation plans in case of emergency; 70.60% said local administrations should be put on high alert for disasters; and 59.11% said people should be educated about hazardous chemical substances.
On lessons learned from the incident, 69.99% of the respondents said the government should attach more importance to disaster prevention and mitigation; 68.96% said there should be plans to cope with emergency situations; 62.23% said chemical residues left by the fire must be systematically eradicated; 60.57% said central and local governments should have better coordination; and 59.94% said the master plan for the city needs amendments.