This week: pub fire aftermath, Bangkok pub safety checks, ‘little ghosts’ and a slow corpse discovery
Pub fire aftermath
The August 5 fire at Chon Buri’s Mountain B pub claimed its 17th victim yesterday as the investigation into the blaze continues.
Sixteen other injured people remain in hospital.
The venue did not have a pub licence and was built in an area where entertainment venues are prohibited.
The owner of the pub, 27-year-old Pongsiri Panprasong, confessed to negligence causing deaths and operating a nightspot without permission.
Police opposed bail, but Pattaya Court released the owner on a cash surety of 300,000 baht after he promised to pay compensation to all victims.
83 Bangkok pubs unsafe
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has found 83 entertainment venues with safety issues, some with inadequate emergency exits for patrons, but most of them continue to operate.
City Hall inspected 494 nightspots in the capital following the fatal blaze in Chon Buri’s Mountain B pub.
Twelve received written orders requiring immediate changes, with three ordered to close and improve their entrances and exits within seven days.
Two venues were facing legal action, and four had already made the needed changes.
Some 68 other venues found to be at fault are still operating.
55 ‘little ghosts’ take Korean trip
Fifty-five Thais who flew to South Korea with a package tour group disappeared and it is suspected they were illegal job seekers, known as “little ghosts”.
Fifty-five out of 280 Thai tourists who arrived on the resort island of Jeju on three-day tour packages did not return to Thailand with the others.
South Korean authorities denied entry to 417 out of 697 Thais visiting Jeju last week, as South Korea suspected they were job seekers, not tourists.
A high daily wage of 2,110 baht in South Korea has tempted many Thais to go there posing as tourists and work illegally.
Corpse found in car hours after crash
The driver of a crashed car was found dead inside the crumpled wreckage almost 12 hours after the accident.
The car hit a concrete barrier on a motorway in Chon Buri province.
Emergency responders saw no sign of the driver and the wrecked car was towed to a police vehicle pound.
An officer at the pound examined the wreck and was surprised to find the body of Phattarachai Atthaporn still in the driver’s seat.
He had severe neck injuries, broken bones and had been dead several hours.
The news trended on social media, with heavy criticism of those involved for not checking the car for survivors.