Following a third fireworks factory explosion in just over 6 months, there are growing calls to overhaul the licencing laws of such facilities. Thai PBS World reports that the latest tragedy in Suphan Buri, outside Bangkok, has prompted officials to hold a meeting to amend the laws.
Akkaradet Wongpitakrote, chairman of the House Industrial Affairs Committee, says the Interior Ministry and Industrial Works Department will discuss updating licencing laws for public safety.
Yesterday’s explosion in Suphan Buri killed all 23 workers at the factory. It follows two other explosions at fireworks factories in Chiang Mai and Narathiwat in July last year. 12 people were killed in the Narathiwat blast and 389 were injured. In the Chiang Mai explosion just days earlier, 11 people were injured, many of them children.
According to Akkaradet, the law currently states that a fireworks facility that has fewer than 50 employees or operates machinery under 50 horse power, does not need a licence from the Industrial Works Department. As a result, this is the law that currently applies to most fireworks factories in the kingdom.
SOURCE: Thai PBS World
