Family Grieves Young Worker Who Died in Bangkok Fire
A young man from northeast Thailand who had worked in Bangkok for just one month to send money home to his disabled mother died in a beer bar fire in the capital; his family traveled over 800 kilometers to retrieve his body.
On July 14, 2569, officials from the Bangkok Emergency and Disaster Prevention Office inspected the beer bar structure at Ladprao to gather information for policy meetings on entertainment venue regulations and to investigate the fire's cause. When asked whether preliminary assessments found any code violations, officials said they were only collecting data for future meetings and could not yet respond.
The family of Sittipong Chaiyoe, known as "Art," who died in the Ladprao beer bar fire, traveled from Namyuen District in Ubon Ratchathani province to the scene. They invited a Buddhist monk to perform a spirit-summoning ceremony at the venue before traveling to the Police Hospital's Institute of Forensic Medicine to retrieve the body for merit-making ceremonies in Ubon Ratchathani.
Art's aunt tearfully explained that she had raised him since childhood because his mother is disabled and his father died about three years ago. They were very close and shared everything together. Before the incident, Art had been in Bangkok for only about a month, working at a restaurant because there was no work at home. He intended to send money to his mother after receiving his first paycheck, but he died before fulfilling that promise.
The family learned of the tragedy around 3:00 a.m. when another relative saw Art's image circulating on Facebook. They initially did not believe it and were afraid to tell Art's mother. They contacted Phuea Thai MP Wasavorn Puangphonsri for assistance coordinating with relevant agencies to bring their relative home.
Art's aunt said that since learning of his death, she has been unable to eat or sleep. She acknowledged that this tragedy is a lesson no one wishes to experience. The family will retrieve the body from the Institute of Forensic Medicine before conducting religious rites at their home in Ubon Ratchathani.
Wasavorn Puangphonsri revealed that he hopes the Police Hospital's Institute of Forensic Medicine will provide compassion to the deceased's family, noting that new procedures now require both fingerprint and DNA comparison, which is time-consuming and burdensome for families, especially those traveling long distances like this family from Namyuen, over 800 kilometers away. If testing takes several days, families do not know where to stay while waiting for results, and this family has already arranged a funeral date back home. He urged the institute to reconsider the appropriateness of these procedures.
