BANGKOK: When Bangkok was waking to news of a devastating bar blaze on Monday (Jul 13) morning, Vorada Hankijjakul was starting to receive messages on her phone to check if she was okay.A regular partygoer, she had not been out on Sunday, when, just before midnight, witnesses watched smoke rise near the music stage at entertainment outlet Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao. Within moments, an explosion was heard and the venue was engulfed by flames and thick toxic smoke.The death toll stands at 32, with 30 people still being treated in hospitals in the city. Among those, 15 are in intensive care units.For the 26-year-old analyst, the incident reinforced a feeling shared by many in Bangkok’s nightlife scene; that this type of tragedy could happen to anyone, anywhere, a reflection of the inherent risks that many Thais feel, but largely ignore, when they go out in the city.
To Vorada, other patrons and bar owners in the capital who spoke to CNA in the aftermath of the fire, this type of incident was not new or surprising.“My first reaction was, ‘damn, that’s tragic’. Thank God it did not happen at the club I went to the night before; it would have been much worse, especially with the amount of people they tried to pack in,” she said.“Part of me felt like something like this was bound to happen eventually.”Following Sunday’s tragedy, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that safety standards should be elevated to a “national agenda”, ordering agencies to complete inspections of buildings and entertainment venues nationwide within 30 days.The focus of such checks should be fire protection systems, emergency exits, occupancy limits and strict compliance with laws and safety standards, he said.
