PHUKET: A blaze swept through an after-hours disco on Phuket today, killing two men and two women and injuring 11 others.
The fire left the Tiger Discotheque in Patong's Soi Bangla walking street a blackened mess. It broke out about 3.55am - almost two hours after closing time.
The identity of those killed is not known. Four French tourists were among those injured, one seriously with burns to 40 percent of his body.
The burned man spoke to Phuketwan today from his hospital bed about the fire, but could only say: ''Tiger Disco? I don't know what happened.''
Forensic police moved in to the blackened disco as ambulances carried away the bodies, brought out from a side entrance through the iconic gaping jaws of a tiger.
At Patong Hospital, the bodies were laid out in a ground-floor cavity, where they will be more closely examined in an effort to establish their identity.
Upstairs, Benjamin Tallanotte, 30, was being treated for second degree burns to 40 percent of his body. The hospital listed others treated for less serious burns as Nycolas Robyn, 25, Mathieu Lagrange, 40, and Yasmine Khelaef-Humber, 31, along with seven Thais.
Ironically, a large meeting of Phuket resort managements, local authorities and police was planned for today at a Patong resort.
The meeting, called in the wake of the murder of Australian tourist Michelle Smith in a knife attack in June, was cancelled after news of today's blaze spread.
The Phuket region has had an unprecedented series of tourist tragedies this year.
Eight people have drowned at Phuket's popular west coast beaches, and two more were killed in a whitewater rafting tragedy north of Phuket.
Two Canadian sisters died in mysterious circumstances at a resort on the popular holiday island of Phi Phi from what appeared to be a toxic reaction.
Four Swedes and a Thai driver were killed in a crash that also occurred north of Phuket.
Then came Michelle Smith's murder in June.
Today's fire is the worst in a Thai nightclub since the fire at the Santika in Bangkok on new year's eve 2009 killed 62 revellers.
Checks for safety were made on Phuket after the Santika fire, and the Tiger Discotheque was one of the nightclubs inspected by the Phuket Governor at the time.
Today the blackened skeleton at the rear of the Patong disco revealed little about what had happened inside.
In the trash alongside the Tiger exit lay a high-heeled pair of women's dancing shoes.
Phuket's Governor and all three Phuket vice governors were in Bangkok today for meetings about next year's Phuket budget.
The fire left the Tiger Discotheque in Patong's Soi Bangla walking street a blackened mess. It broke out about 3.55am - almost two hours after closing time.
The identity of those killed is not known. Four French tourists were among those injured, one seriously with burns to 40 percent of his body.
The burned man spoke to Phuketwan today from his hospital bed about the fire, but could only say: ''Tiger Disco? I don't know what happened.''
Forensic police moved in to the blackened disco as ambulances carried away the bodies, brought out from a side entrance through the iconic gaping jaws of a tiger.
At Patong Hospital, the bodies were laid out in a ground-floor cavity, where they will be more closely examined in an effort to establish their identity.
Upstairs, Benjamin Tallanotte, 30, was being treated for second degree burns to 40 percent of his body. The hospital listed others treated for less serious burns as Nycolas Robyn, 25, Mathieu Lagrange, 40, and Yasmine Khelaef-Humber, 31, along with seven Thais.
Ironically, a large meeting of Phuket resort managements, local authorities and police was planned for today at a Patong resort.
The meeting, called in the wake of the murder of Australian tourist Michelle Smith in a knife attack in June, was cancelled after news of today's blaze spread.
The Phuket region has had an unprecedented series of tourist tragedies this year.
Eight people have drowned at Phuket's popular west coast beaches, and two more were killed in a whitewater rafting tragedy north of Phuket.
Two Canadian sisters died in mysterious circumstances at a resort on the popular holiday island of Phi Phi from what appeared to be a toxic reaction.
Four Swedes and a Thai driver were killed in a crash that also occurred north of Phuket.
Then came Michelle Smith's murder in June.
Today's fire is the worst in a Thai nightclub since the fire at the Santika in Bangkok on new year's eve 2009 killed 62 revellers.
Checks for safety were made on Phuket after the Santika fire, and the Tiger Discotheque was one of the nightclubs inspected by the Phuket Governor at the time.
Today the blackened skeleton at the rear of the Patong disco revealed little about what had happened inside.
In the trash alongside the Tiger exit lay a high-heeled pair of women's dancing shoes.
Phuket's Governor and all three Phuket vice governors were in Bangkok today for meetings about next year's Phuket budget.
Dear editor,
On July 1, you wrote an editorial claiming there was "no evidence" to support the claim Phuket was "no longer safe for foreigners and Thais". Today, you're admitting that "the Phuket region has had an unprecedented series of tourist tragedies this year" and listing a litany of deaths and injuries. If this isn't evidence showing Phuket isn't safe, what is it?
Posted by Phil Smith on August 17, 2012 10:02
Editor Comment:
An unprecedented series of tourist tragedies.