Thai investigators are preparing to bring a sweeping set of charges against the owner of a Bangkok bar after a devastating July blaze left 37 people dead, according to the case’s lead officer.
Suvicha Salaibatr, who owns the well-known Rong Beer Na Lad Phrao restaurant and bar, was himself among dozens who were hospitalised when fire ripped through the venue on the evening of 12 July.
“We issued an arrest warrant last week against him on six charges” including negligence causing death, serious injury, harm and fire, as well as criminal mischief and running an entertainment venue without a licence, chief investigator Isara Na Phatthalung said.
Isara said Salaibatr has now been moved out of intensive care, but police have not yet been able to formally present the allegations. “He has left the intensive care unit but the doctor has not yet allowed police to read the charges to him,” Isara said, adding that officers hoped to proceed with charging him as the sole suspect within the next few days.
Authorities say the potential penalties are significant: if convicted, the bar owner could receive up to 10 years in prison for the negligence charge alone.
Police have said most victims died from smoke inhalation, and they traced the cause of the inferno to an electrical short circuit in the ceiling.
The case has renewed attention on Thailand’s approach to health and safety regulations – particularly in bars and nightclubs – an area that has long raised concerns.
The risks were underscored in 2009, when a fire tore through Bangkok’s Santika club during New Year celebrations, killing 67 people and injuring more than 200.
