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Accidents, as they say, are just waiting to happen in many cases. Maybe the term "tragedy" was invented when the line became blurred between something that appeared to be beyond man's power to prevent and something that could easily have been avoided.

When a car tyre blows up because of some stray sharp object on the highway, sending the vehicle into the path of a packed school bus, then that incident can be classified as an accident. But what if the tyre was old and had not been attended to for such a long time that it blew up on its own?

How a fireworks display was allowed in the packed Santika Pub during the New Year countdown is one thing that is difficult to comprehend. However, if we explore this sad episode deeper, we may find that certain measures could - or could not - have been taken so that even if a fire did break out because of an "accident", a "tragedy" of this size could still have been prevented.

And a lot of these measures would have had to do with the very entrances and exits that ended up being the defining factor about how many lived and how many died.

Revellers have always favoured the mysteriously exciting air of narrow dark passageways. The venue owners love these narrow spaces for other reasons - crowds of guests milling near the entrances are the best advertisement possible and letting people in one by one ensures good security. Except "security" in this case is not just about keeping weapons out, but also about keeping out the gatecrashers.

Therefore, even though it was a heart-breaking tragedy, the large death toll from the Santika Pub inferno comes as anything but a surprise.

Sadly, tragedies like this don't take place just here in Thailand. Every time we hear news about nightclub fires, no matter where they are, we can almost always predict the scale of such "accidents" before the number of people killed and wounded are announced.

On New Year's Eve, when the place was packed beyond capacity, many guests who were there to celebrate Santika Pub's last night did not stand a chance.

The only way out the victims knew of - the door that they had walked through when coming in - was fast becoming crammed with fallen or dying bodies.

It would have made a huge difference if the place had big, illuminated doorways, manned with guards or even bouncers, who could have opened them up in case of fire, explosion or even just plain panic.

However, the venue owners obviously regarded these measures as unnecessary.

After all, doors and fire exits are nothing like car safety belts. We have realised the safety these belts provide and have learned to be thankful about having them around.

Sadly, in Thailand, bad things have to happen first, before people realise the need for safety measures.

For instance, the Phetchaburi Road inferno had to happen before controls could be introduced on transporting dangerous substances. The 1993 Kader doll factory fire that killed nearly 200 workers had to happen before labour safety standards were imposed. The use of LPG in self-help restaurants needed one or two explosions before it was stopped. And in a not-so-distant past mini-cinema complexes were virtual death traps.

Now it was the turn of the Santika Pub. One of the first few things to surface in the case is how the police and the Administrative Court had disagreed about the venue's readiness to operate.

Deputy Police Commissioner-General Jongrak Juthanon said the Metropolitan Police was opposed to the operation of Santika Pub in 2004 on grounds that the place did not conform to safety standards, but the owners sought and won an Administrative Court injunction that allowed the pub to operate pending a ruling.

Due to its troubles in court, the pub owners were planning to stop operating at that location and were promoting a New Year countdown set up as a "Goodbye Santika" event.

Ironically, many regulars went to the pub on New Year's Eve to bid farewell to the entertainment venue they loved. One of these guests, Pongsiri Wongsaeng, 28, narrowly escaped the blaze by jump-kicking a glass wall and pulling himself through the small hole he had made. The fate of those who died or were injured in the Santika Pub inferno should lead to a sweeping change in regulations and the implementation of rules and standards where entertainment places like this are concerned.

Even though young people love crowded and crammed venues, the owners should learn to be responsible and not take chances just to please the clients. The authorities, on the other hand, should remember the screaming victims being engulfed in flames and start to strictly enforce regulations.

It is only through a collective social conscience that future "accidents" will remain just that.