A New Year’s Nightmare
By now, the facts are well known….a NYE celebration gone terribly wrong at the hugely popular Bangkok nightclub Santika, when the roof caught on fire and the blaze spread throughout the club. Around 60 were killed and more severely burned and injured. Many died from suffocation and trampling, say police who believe the inferno may have been caused by fireworks going off inside the club.
My own NYE, which also happens to be my birthday, started off very low key with a small dinner with a group of friends. After we finished, plans were being made for onward festivities and yes, the clubs and venues along the trendy Thong Lo and Ekkamai districts were mentioned as possible destinations.
My friends and I opted for some place walkable and not huge or crowded. I was in a mellow mood and rang in the new year with my friends but then we all split up, some of us returning to the apartment–that would be me, looking forward to a tranquil start to the new year.
My university friend visiting from New York and I shared a final toast and then retired– with both of our partners opting to stay out and enjoy some more revelry, when a call came for me at about 3.40 am local time, telling me about the fire and asking if I knew more. I didn’t know anything since I had been asleep—but in a flash of panic, I was awake since I had no idea where the boys had gone after we said goodbye and it could have easily, easily been Santika.
Bangkok nightlife is like that–very breezy and relaxed–there are so many choices of clubs and pubs that a split second decision to go out to one particular place versus another is commonplace. There aren’t many places that require reservations, so it’s a completely open scene.
I rushed out into the main room of my flat and found that everyone was awake and had just walked in the door. No one we knew had been at or near Santika, thankfully and the next day I spent at a few different hospitals trying to get some information about the injured.
I ended up at the Police Forensics Institute, which is in the heart of Bangkok, near Central World and Siam Square. There was a bulletin board set up and the security guards very gently and kindly showed me the way. From afar, I could see the horrible pictures of the dead and unidentified–some burnt beyond recognition and some young faces that will be frozen in my mind for years to come. People scrutinised the lists, some taking pictures with their phones, others breaking down in recognition of a loved one.
I spoke to a Singaporean there who said she had been outside when it all happened–just so she could phone people to wish them happy new year away from the club. They were a mixed group of Thais and foreigners and one friend had perished and two others were injured. At first, she said she thought people were running outside towards something but of course, we know now that they were running away.
