Flashermac Posted March 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 Illegal modifications fingered as cause of deadly hotel blaze The fire at the Grand Park Avenue Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22 which killed one person and injured two dozen others on Thursday evening may have been caused by illegal building modifications, Bangkok Deputy Governor Teerachon Manomaiphibul said. Mr Teerachon said this suspicion was based on his observations of the hotel's banquet room, where the fire started. ''I suspected there might have been illegal modifications to the building in converting a parking garage into a banquet room, because the room had a low ceiling and was also connected to a parking space,''said Mr Teerachon. He said he also noticed that there were no sprinklers installed in the room. Mr Teerachon said the hotel had applied for a modification permit in 1992 and was granted it in 1994. The Public Works Department would look at the hotel's floor plan to see if any building codes had been violated. Pitchaya Chantranuwat, head of the building safety sub-committee of the Engineering Institute of Thailand, said the hotel's floor plan showed there were no doors separating the main staircase from the hallways, which allowed smoke to spread quickly through the building. Mr Pitchaya also said the hotel had only one fire escape, which was too narrow, making evacuations difficult. The 2001 building code requires all hallways longer than 10 metres to have at least one fire escape. Pol Lt Col Thanakorn Konkaew, deputy superintendent of Thong Lor police, said the fire originated in the banquet room on the fifth floor of the hotel. The room was not being used at the time. ''There were signs of an explosion near the [electrical] cutout,'' he said. The blaze, which was reported around 9.40pm, continued for about an hour. Dr Suwinai Budsarakhamwong, director of Kluaynamthai Hospital 1, yesterday said a Russian woman in her 30s was killed in the blaze. She has not yet been named. Pol Lt Col Thanakorn added another 24 people were injured. Thong Lor police superintendent Pol Col Rattasak Saksalam said the police may press charges against anyone found guilty of negligence causing the fire. He said the police would also look into whether the hotel had violated the 1992 building codes it was subject to when making its modifications in 1994. Meanwhile, Mr Teerachon said 50 inspection teams would survey 50 major buildings around Bangkok starting next week. Any found not meeting building codes would be given until Sept 30 to attain the set standards. The owners of any buildings which do not pass inspections on Oct 1 would face up to three months' imprisonment and a fine of 60,000 baht, he said. My link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horneytorney Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 The hotel was formerly known as the Grand Mercure Park Avenue. Most of the reviews state that it is listed as a 4 star hotel but closer to a 2 star hotel. I think it is STILL a Grand Mercure as I can find it on the Accord Group (Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis etc.) webpage! http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-6172-accor-hotels-6172/index.shtml Surprised that such a Global Hotel group with usually quite a good reputation runs hotels with such substandards. Guess the hotel is owned by the usual local highly influental rich guy (who can "convince" the authorities to turn a blind eye on any nonconformities or illegal construction specs) and Accord has just a management contract and was kept in the dark of those issues. Time for Accord Group to enforce proper inspection of such hotels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh_Hoy Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 I remember from years ago when the fire department stated outright that it had no way to rescue anyone above something like the sixth story. Didn't stop the building though. My old employer highly recommended that we occupy hotel rooms above the 2nd floor and not above the 5th floor. Stay above street level to minimize criminal attacks and low enough that fire ladders can reach a window or balcony. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horneytorney Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 My old employer highly recommended that we occupy hotel rooms above the 2nd floor and not above the 5th floor. Stay above street level to minimize criminal attacks and low enough that fire ladders can reach a window or balcony. HH that was just to prevent you from staying on the more expensive Executive floor which is usually a higher floor! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted March 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 The Executive floor rooms come equipped with bungee cords in case of an emergency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted March 11, 2012 Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 Korean Version Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horneytorney Posted March 11, 2012 Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 The Executive floor rooms come equipped with bungee cords in case of an emergency. on a more serious note: the executive floors often have special staircase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted March 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 Doesn't do much good if the floors before you are burning though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horneytorney Posted March 11, 2012 Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 Doesn't do much good if the floors before you are burning though. not if the special staircase is separated by a concrete wall and no exits to the lower floors except at the bottom... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lazyphil Posted March 11, 2012 Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 Korean Version i've wondered before if such a thing existed!!....makes perfect sense. why dont all buildings with floors above, say 3 floors have a dedicated room with a life line, or even every room. hardly cost that much and ok may not be for the faint hearted but a choice of trying to be a member of sas or navy seal and failing/falling or burning to a crisp i know what i'd prefer!!!1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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