BMA sues Bangkok hotel owners after blaze

BANGKOK, 13 March 2012 (NNT) – The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has sued the owner of a burned hotel for ignoring safety precautions and illegal modifications to the building.

The Public Works Department of the BMA has informed police that two owners of the Grand Park Avenue Hotel have modified the building without permission. The owners will be charged for violation the Building Code Act, which carries a six-month imprisonment and/or a fine of up to 120,000 baht.

The owners have changed the parking lot into a banquet room, where the fire occurred, resulting in two dead.

The BMA has temporarily closed the hotel and ordered owners to clear the modified area within 30 days. The BMA admitted that it has inspected the hotel in general earlier but did not go into details; therefore, the authority did not know that the banquet room was supposed to be a car park.

Police have requested the two hotel owners to turn themselves in within seven days. Fire fighters, hotel employees, and engineers of the Public Works Department will also be called in for questioning.