Last Friday morning, a massive fire engulfed a luxury residential building in Narathiwat Soi 18, claiming one life and causing six injuries.
Just another case of a forgetful resident who left burning candles and joss sticks unattended, some might think.
If we look more deeply, we can see many flaws in laws and legal loopholes which, if addressed, would have prevented casualties, including the wife of the building owner who suffocated
FIRE ESCAPES & SPRINKLERS
It's apparent that firefighters faced difficulty in getting to the location because it is on a narrow road and the building's height made it next to impossible to extinguish the flames.
But after an initial investigation, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) ruled out any breach of building fire safety regulations by the building owner.
The 1992 Building Safety Control Act requires that buildings over eight storeys tall be fitted with sprinkler systems and fire escapes.
This doomed building (nine storeys tall, 10 if rooftop area is counted) was an exception because it was constructed in 1991 and the law is not retroactive.
Experts from the Engineering Institute of Thailand (EIT) confirmed after an inspection on Sunday that there were no sprinklers or fire extinguishers inside in the building.
Fire escape ladders were installed only on the second floor.
TALL BUILDING, NARROW ROAD
For the same reason (laws not retroactive), the building owner didn’t breach the clause of the law prohibiting a building higher than 23 metres — or eight storeys — to be constructed on small roads or roads less than 10 metres wide.
This tall building, situated on a street narrower than 10 metres, doesn’t violate the current law.
EXISTING FIRE LAWS DO NOT ENSURE SAFETY
The fire on Narathiwat Soi 18 is a lesson, not just to building owners, but also the BMA.
As the damage and casualties show, not violating the law does not ensure the building met current safety standards.
There must be numerous other buildings in Bangkok, many being used for business or tourism purposes, that have the same safety problems but were built before the revised version of building fire safety laws took effect.
The EIT has actually independently suggested that for some 11,300 buildings — with certain features including those taller than 23 metres, larger than 10,000 square metres, accommodating more than 500 people and hotels with over 80 rooms to seek a yearly inspection by experts as a preventive measure.
There could at least be regular fire drills for residents or occupants, so that they know how to exit the building if there is a fire.
Installing fire escapes in old buildings so residents will not be trapped inside the old building if there was a fire or earthquake, would also be a good idea.