Poipet: Hotel manager in Ban Lao “At first I thought I could do it” – BBC News Thai

From one of the grandest and most luxurious casino hotels in the Poipet area. Cambodia The Grand Diamond City Hotel and Casino caught fire in the middle of the night on December 28 until the morning of the next day. On this day, the situation was similar to the ruins of an abandoned city where the buildings on both sides of the hotel were razed until they were deformed and covered in black smoke.

After hundreds of firefighters and rescuers from the coast of Thailand came to their aid from the middle of the night on December 28, Friday, December 30, volunteer firefighters and rescuers from the coast. Thailand conducts sweeping searches for the bodies of victims with the Cambodian military personnel until 7 more bodies were found

After completing the search mission all day until he was sure no more bodies were found. The Thai side officers then withdrew from the area at the request of the Cambodian authorities. It is the completion of the assistance mission on the Thai side. And after that, the Cambodian authorities will continue to manage. But the decision has led Thai officials to fear that information on the 53 remaining missing people will not be available.

From images and videos posted by many people on social media during the raging fires. he showed this at the beginning of the fire. No one can control the fire.

Mr. Manas Tanheng, Grand Diamond Hotel Manager who was at the scene of the fire. he told BBC Thai with a tired face that the cause was caused by a short circuit located above the kitchen on the 2nd floor of the hotel

“At first I thought I would take it. but the wind is very strong so he started coordinating the assistance of firefighters both on the territory and on the Thai side before he could open a checkpoint to rush towards the Poipet side. It was a long hour,” Manas explained.

He explained that he had coordinated to ask for help from the Thai side and that firefighters had arrived at the Klong Luek Friendship Bridge area. in front of the Poipet side immigration checkpoint But officials on the Thai side were not allowed to cross the border until nearly an hour after the fire started.

“The Cambodian firefighters who arrived first were not equipped with equipment, so the fire could not be contained. It actually took a long time for the fire to spread throughout the hotel. Because the fire slowly spread from the rear of the hotel before engulfing the two buildings. We still think we can do it. But as the fire began to spread throughout. It didn’t take long this time before the whole building caught fire. When the firefighters saw the intensity of the fire did not dare to go in and put out the fire,” recalled Manat.

“The hotel itself has a fire device. But everything happened so fast that the staff couldn’t handle it. Along with the kitchen top is a document storage room. therefore making it a good fuel.

After the two buildings of the Grand Diamond Hotel burned down with heavy damage, Manas reveals that the entire building is to be demolished. and start over due to the structures remaining from the fire unable to do anything

“He roughly estimates the damage at more than a trillion baht. Our hotel has been open for 20 years but has never experienced anything as bad as this. But in Poipet itself, there were big fires in hotels 3 times before, but the firefighters from the Thai side came faster. Thus, fire can be controlled faster.

The fire that ravaged the Grand Diamond Hotel lasted two days. But the tourism situation in Poipet seems almost unaffected. From the crossing point on the Thai side, we still see both Thai and foreign tourists. They were constantly dragging big bags across the border.

The Grand Diamond Hotel is located across from the immigration checkpoint on the Poipet side. with the size of the building and its location This will be a must see place for all tourists and will pass through the hotel area before moving on to other hotels and casinos in Poipet.

Although the condition ahead is depressing But passing tourists frantically stopped to take pictures before heading to other hotels that line Poipet.

Although this fire has caused 27 confirmed deaths up to December 30, the tourist condition of this border town does not appear to have deteriorated at all. Because as soon as he crossed the fire area, the casinos, restaurants, bars, karaoke and massage parlors that lined both sides of the road vied with each other to turn on colored lights and loudly called the customers to use the service.

BBC Thai started approaching the Grand Diamond Hotel area. In the afternoon of December 30 and saw rescue vehicles from various foundations, as well as hundreds of volunteer rescuers from many places. At that time, they were preparing to withdraw their forces to Thailand after the governor of Bantian Meanchey province. Thank them for their help with this mission.

“When we reached the area, there was moderate chaos. because this is not our home We also need to look into the law to see what we can and cannot do. he told BBC Thai

Volunteer team from Bangkok Somsak’s items reached the area around 7:00 on December 29.

Somsak explained that the main task on the first day was to get survivors out for first aid. They were taken to area hospitals, but were not allowed to enter the fire area. As for the mission on the second day after the fire had subsided. Ruamkatanyu Foundation personnel Por Teck Tung Foundation Cambodian rescuers and Cambodian military personnel participated in the search for the corpses that were still stuck in the building

“The state that I saw inside was almost completely burned out. And not all of the floor rooms were burned down. But there was a thick cloud of smoke covering the area.

Information from the Grand Diamond Fire Victims Coordination Center in Poipet, located before the border checkpoint on the Thai side. Stating that there are still 53 people missing and there are 27 confirmed cumulative fatalities, with the latest 7 fatalities just sent from Poipet to the Thai side at around 21:00 on December 30th.

“The incident commander has decided to hand the area over to the Cambodian authorities. So we had to go back to Thailand. And that’s the end of the mission,” Somsak said.

The Thai Foundation officers withdrew from the Poipet area at around 5pm and handed the area back to the Cambodian authorities as requested. Although this is one of two missions outside of Thailand. But Somsak thinks the mission was successfully completed with cooperation from all sides.

“I would like to thank the officers and volunteers from all sectors, both from Cambodia and Thailand, who dedicated their time and helped each other until the mission was successfully completed,” concluded Somsak.