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Published on October 25, 2007

"We believe there was a co-ordination mistake among staff," Metropolitan Police Division 4 commander Maj General Pissanupong Yutathat said yesterday, "But we are gathering more evidence and the investigation is ongoing".

He declined to give any timeframe about when the investigation would be completed.

Two officials, Tossapol Nakusa and Supalak Thadthong, have already been charged with recklessness causing injury and death as they were supervising the water pump and generator for the fatal ride.

On Tuesday, a woman died and five other people sustained injuries because two boats on the Indiana Log ride collided.

According to the police investigation, a disrupted power supply caused a water pump to fail - so there was not enough water to cushion the impact of the boats plunging down from the start of the ride. However, the staff who supervised the water pump and the generator failed to inform the ride controller who released the ride as usual.

"By normal practice, if there is not enough water, the boat must not be launched from the top," Pissanupong said.

He said he had assigned

a deputy commander to

closely supervise the case together with officials from the Bangkok Metropoli-

tan Administration (BMA).

Under the Building Control Act, this case is also under the jurisdiction of the BMA Public Works Department.

Pissanupong said as part of the ongoing investigation, the Scientific Crime Detection Division would also look into Siam Park's working systems to determine whether any more people should be held responsible for the accident.

Meanwhile, PM's Office Minister Khunying Dhipavadee Meksawan revealed that a consumer lodged a complaint against Siam Park on October 18 this year over an Indiana Log ride.

In the complaint, the consumer suffered a broken coccyx after riding the Log on July 31.

Siam Park at first promised to pay for the medical bill but later reneged on the promise, citing the lack of a receipt. 

Dhipavadee was speaking after chairing a meeting of the Consumer Protection Board. Siam Park managing director Wuthichai Luangamornrat said he did not receive any report on the July 31 case until the Office of Consumer Protection Board sent him a notice yesterday.

Board secretary-general Rassamee Visavavet said it had resolved to immediately suspend the use of the Indiana Log ride and to instruct all provincial governments to establish a committee to conduct safety checks at all amusement parks.

She said the board would also help the family of Patchadaporn Kongkarian, who was killed in Tuesday's accident, in seeking compensation from Siam Park.

There have been a number of fun-ride accidents in recent years.

According to a senior official at the BMA, two children died when a train ride caught fire at Fashion Island in 2002. Following that shocking

accident, the government amended the Building Control Act, requiring that a committee check safety standards at all amusement parks be established under a ministerial regulation.

However, five years later, the Interior Ministry has yet to issue the ministerial regulation to enforce the safety checks.

In the wake of the fatal accident on Tuesday, the Khan Na Yow District Office had ordered Siam Park to provide safety-standard procedures for all the rides at its compound by November 2 - or face immediate closure.

The order was issued under the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act.

Law-enforcement officials at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) were also dispatched to inspect the Indiana Log ride.

The ride made headlines in 2002 when a Japanese tourist was hospitalised. In that case, Siam Park paid the medical bills even though police officers who inspected the ride had found nothing wrong with it.

Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin yesterday said Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont had instructed him to ensure that all amusement parks, including those in shopping plazas, in the capital meet safety standards.

Amornphant Nakorn Siam Park chairman Chaiwat said he had been planning to replace the Indiana Log before this accident took place. The company has operated Siam Park for decades.

"We have brought in many new rides and machines to replace the old ones," he said.

The Nation