INTENSE checks are likely of nightclubs and other entertainment venues on Phuket to prevent a disaster like the blaze and stampede that killed more than 60 patrons and injured scores more at the Santika Pub in Bangkok on New Year's Eve.

Inspections by authorities are likely before January 26, Chinese New Year, which is the next occasion on which fireworks will be set off by revelers.

Phuketwan has been told of venues on the island where there is no special provision for indoor fireworks, where fire-fighting equipment is not in good order, and where emergency exits are sometimes blocked.

Warning of a crackdown came today from Chotenarin Kerdsom, the Director of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Ministry of the Interior.

''The Santika Pub disaster should alarm everybody in the entertainment business on Phuket,'' he said.

''It was a tragedy for those involved and not something we would like to see on Phuket.

''Our aim is to keep residents and tourists here as safe as we possibly can.''

Horrifying images of people trying to escape the flames at the Bangkok pub were shown on television around the world.

Some of the dead have yet to be identified. Many of the survivors remain seriously at risk, in intensive care in Bangkok hospitals.

''Phuket has many entertainment venues that have probably not been checked for some time,'' Khun Chotenarin said.

''We hope to undertake checks every three months from now on.''

The resort town of Patong is home to the majority of pubs, nightclubs and entertainment venues on Phuket.

From what Phuketwan's reporter in Patong observed on New Year's Eve, some of the venues will have difficulty passing a close scrutiny.

There appeared to be only one clear exit and entrance at some, especially those upstairs or at the rear of laneways.

The Bangkok Post reported that many of the trapped Santika Pub patrons died of smoke inhalation, while others were crushed to death in the stampede to get out of the front exit.

There was a back exit, but that was known only to staff members.