| |
LocalYokul
|
holy shit, that's some account
the pics look like something from a holocaust
|
Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:02 pm on Jan. 6, 2009
|
|
bkkz
|
Here's one from BangkokPost (Jan 7th)
Setting the record straight about a horrific tragedy
I am the guy in the photographs and films in the white shirt covered in blood dragging people out of the window by the main door and the smoking lounge.
I would actually like to take exception to the comments made by some of the press and armchair critics in all forums and to defend some of the people accused of what was a tragic accident.
I think you are all forgetting that this was an accident and it was actually the stampede and the panic that caused the problem for the majority, resulting in the deaths that occurred.
The owner was with us for the whole time, helping us get people out of the club and to say he has crocodile tears or something similar is a gross misrepresentation of a very concerned man and someone I know very well who put his life on the line along with the rest of the helpers (less than 15 people, by the way, out of the 800 or so people who remained outside and felt it better to get their phone cameras out than to help the dying people at the club).
There are also claims that the fire crews could not get to the club for up to 45 minutes. The girls in the toilets, who included one of my best friends, were rescued within 25 minutes as she remained on the phone with her boyfriend throughout the whole ordeal and it took 21 minutes from start to finish of that phone call to when the fire brigade reached them.
In that time the club had burned as much as it was going to, as the emergency services were flooding the place (in a completely disorganised way) and the people in full rescue gear could take over.
The club was my local haunt and the owner is a close personal friend of mine. He is distraught and completely at odds with what has happened. However, I do think the record should be set straight on this, as the people at the club rightly say that the club was engulfed within seconds of the fire starting.
My own theory on this is that the bottles of alcohol on the tables significantly worsened the effect as the heat rose in the club. This is a common feature of Bangkok and all Asian nightclubs, where the alcohol is kept by the customer on their table. Basically, each and every table has a Molotov cocktail on it in a situation of this nature and I witnessed first-hand the bottles exploding as the heat from the fire reached them. I believe this is what caused the majority of the burns and the speed with which the fire spread, regardless of materials used at the club. Within 90 seconds the club was engulfed - now who do you wish to blame for this?
The start was probably by either the pyrotechnic display on the stage or the sparklers and firecrackers which the customers had brought with them. The outside effects, I seriously doubt, could have caused the problem, as being outside by the front of the club no embers came our way from that main display. This use of firecrackers and sparklers is another Thai/Asian tradition. Inside the club it probably set the alcove by the stage on fire, which quickly spread to the upper area of the club which was a mosaic created from gypsum board. However, as the heat descended the bottles started to explode and covered everything in their vicinity in highly flammable liquid.
My friends and I (including the owner), who were outside when the fire started, only noticed the problem inside when the clubbers started to stream through the side and main doors. Again, just to set the record straight, there were three exits and they were all used by the escapees.
The problem was the panic and stampede and the lack of emergency lighting in the club, although I seriously doubt that this would have had any benefit as the club was engulfed in thick, black, acrid smoke that fell immediately onto the floor and caused a lot of the deaths by smoke inhalation.
Downstairs in the toilet area, each toilet was connected to the outside as they are open to the elements; however the boardwalk above covered any means of escape. We did manage to get through that (this is where the owner was ripping his way through to try and reach the toilet area) and rescue the people from the men's and women's toilet areas, again a misreport. My friend Jic was in the ladies' toilet and I sent two firemen down to reach her after they sprayed water on the club entrance area. They chain-led four girls from the toilet and saved them, others were pulled up from the now open boardwalk area at the side of the club.
There was myself, another two foreign guys and about 8-10 Thai guys (mostly staff) who risked going back in; everyone else (a symptom of Thai society) decided that they should take their camera phones out and start filming.
I have to say I am very disappointed in the press and media who were on the scene faster than the emergency services and who got in the way, as you can see from the films. Again, another symptom of the age we live in, when capturing a person's death on your digital device so you can sell it to the press for a few baht, is more important than saving that life.
I do not want recognition for this - all I ask is that the facts are reported correctly. I was frontline and tried to save as many people as possible. There are images I will never forget from going back into the club. This is, and always has been, my favourite place in Bangkok and it was a tragedy which probably could have been lessened but not prevented due to the reasons I have stated.
As for the problems regarding the licensing, etc, let's all be realistic and show we know how this works in Thailand. We all know enforcement or the lack thereof is a paid-for service within this community and that the "tea money" covers a lot of misdemeanours and also protection.
The authorities act as a semi-legal mafia and these sort of protection rackets are an everyday occurrence here; that is not to say that a lot of policemen and emergency services don't risk their own lives. But the facts should come out.
I really would like to set the record straight on this, as the emergency services - while completely disorganised due to the lack of a consensus in Bangkok and Thailand as a whole (this is a point for a much longer conversation on how to ensure organisation is maintained, which is sorely lacking, I am afraid) - were onsite fairly quickly given the traffic conditions on Ekamai road, which is notoriously busy at night. And they included some of the bravest people I have ever seen.
|
Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 6:59 pm on Jan. 6, 2009
|
|
atl
|
WOW!
BK, thanks for posting that one.....
atl
|
Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:51 pm on Jan. 6, 2009
|
|
Mr Alan
|
Excerpts from the above account published in "The Nation":
"I would actually like to take exception to the comments made by some of the press and armchair critics in all forums and to defend some of the people accused of what was a tragic accident.
I think you are all forgetting that this was an accident and it was actually the stampede and the panic that caused the problem for the majority, resulting in the deaths that occurred.
The club was my local haunt and the owner is a close personal friend of mine."
Therefore that person is not objective and is in no position to tell anyone who is to blame.
If someone ignites pyrotechnics indoors, it is not an accident. It was a part of the Santika Club show on New Years Eve. The pyrotechnics did not ignite by accident inside a cigarette ash tray. They did not ignite by accident in the kitchen. The pyrotechnics were deliberately ignited on the stage because someone wanted to ignite it.
Under no circumstances should any pyrotechnics ever be ignited indoors, much less in a crowded club, much less on a stage with flammable sound absorbent material nearby. Stampedes are part of human nature (and animal nature) and one should assume that anytime there is a fire there will be stampede. In fact if one just yells "fire!" there will be a stampede that might kill or seriously injure people.
Those who deliberately ignited the pyrotechnics, and those who were part of the show that watched the pyrotechnics being ignited, and the management of the club that allowed it to happen, are responsible for the deaths of over 60 people. Even though they did not intentionally attempt to injure or kill people, their deliberate actions of gross negligence rises to the level of criminal behavior for which they must be held accountable.
|
Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 7:54 pm on Jan. 6, 2009
|
|
|
|
atl
|
Holy Shit Smegs,
That takes my breath away...in a very bad way!!!
It reminds me of Phuket after the Tsunami...I was living there but came back to the states for Christmas and went back after it happened and my land lady showed me photo's from the day after that she had taken on Patong...
Imagine Patong with just trash everywhere and belloated (sp?) bodies on the beach.....I mean like 7 of them just sucked up so much water that it looked like they had twins in their belly....horrific pics...
Jesus...that is just horrible what happened at that club...just horrible....
You know we bitch about pithy things here and in our lives and all, but just think that could have been anybody...makes the hair on my arm stand up!
atl
|
Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 11:58 pm on Jan. 6, 2009
|
|
don5252
|
The survivors must be putting stress on the health care system, aside from the Chinese offer, is other aid being made available, donations, volunteer help etc.
|
Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:51 pm on Jan. 7, 2009
|
|
Mel Gibson
|
Sunbelt Asia lost one of their best managers in that fire,, apparentley went back in to help two mates,, none came back out.
Mel
|
Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 3:09 pm on Jan. 7, 2009
|
|
atl
|
Yea, I got that email as well....I believe he was a manager in the legal department....
I had a very good experience with Sunbelt back in '04 and my sincere condolences go out to them....
and yes, the man went back in to help and perished..which is incredibly heroic in my book...R.I.P!
atl
|
Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 5:06 pm on Jan. 7, 2009
|
|
Jojje
|
Quote: from Mr Alan on 8:54 am on Jan. 7, 2009
I wanted to write just that - but you already did and focused on the important issue. Hats off.
|
Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:14 pm on Jan. 7, 2009
|
|
| |
|
