BANGKOK – To mark the second anniversary of the tragic fire at the Santika Club which claimed 67 lives and injured over 200, the Royal Thai Police announced a pre-emptive two-fold increase in the bribe required to overlook potentially life-threatening fire-safety violations.
“Our first priority is to protect public safety,” said National Police Chief Wichean Potephosree. “By increasing the bribe for allowing deadly firetraps to go ahead and fill up with New Year’s revelers, we are taking a proactive stance to reduce holiday deaths.”
By doubling the fee from ฿100,000 to ฿200,000, the police believe that club owners will now be motivated to simply improve fire safety standards, up to a budget of ฿199,999, rather than pay the bribe.
“That’s a lot of money,” said Wichean. “For ฿199,999 you could buy a proper fire exit, install some smoke alarms, or even upgrade a sprinkler system.”
Wichean deflected criticism that the largest, most dangerous firetrap owners might still opt to pay the fine, thus setting up another New Year’s catastrophe.
“If someone has to pay ฿200,000 to avoid a fire safety inspection, then surely he will not want to pay it again next year. I think we can trust such a person to make the necessary changes soon.”
