Bangkok bar fire owner faces six charges over 37 deaths

Thai police intend to charge the owner of a Bangkok restaurant and bar over a July 12 fire that killed 37 people, the lead investigator said Monday.

Suvicha Salaibatr, owner of Rong Beer Na Lad Phrao, was among dozens of people taken to hospital after the blaze engulfed the venue.

Chief investigator Isara Na Phatthalung said police issued an arrest warrant last week on six charges, including negligence causing death, serious injury, harm and fire, as well as criminal mischief and operating an entertainment venue without a licence.

Isara said Suvicha had left intensive care but doctors had not yet allowed police to read the charges to him. Police hope to charge him as the sole suspect in the next few days, he said.

If convicted, Suvicha faces up to 10 years in prison on the negligence charge alone.

Police have said most victims died from smoke inhalation and that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit in the ceiling.