One year after the tragic Mountain B nightclub fire in Sattahip that killed dozens of people, the only foreigner present, who survived, a young Vietnamese woman, struggles to deal with her injuries and financial debt. As she isn’t Thai, many of the programs used to support victims and the injured were not eligible for her. The owner of the venue did assist her with some expenses, but it wasn’t enough, her family says.
Warning: graphic content
A young Vietnamese woman who suffered severe burn injuries in the Mountain B nightclub fire in the Sattahip district is still recovering while also trying to pay off a medical debt of more than 4 million baht.
August 5th marked a year since the sad incident at the Chonburi nightclub, which resulted in 26 fatalities and 50 injuries.
When the fire suddenly broke out in the foam ceiling and quickly spread throughout the venue, killing several victims at the terrible scene, the club was packed with patrons, largely young people in their early 20s.
One year later, many survivors are still suffering from severe pain, including Ms. Dinh Kim Le, or Kim, a stunning young Vietnamese woman in her 25s.
Kim, one of the survivors, spent four years traveling back and forth between Thailand and Vietnam.
She had serious burns that covered between 70 and 80 percent of her body. When she decided to go to the Mountain B nightclub on August 5, 2022, with friends, she was a regular, legitimate resident of the Sattahip neighborhood.
Kim is currently unable to take care of herself and is dependent on her siblings and family. Only two days have passed since her discharge despite the fact that she was hospitalized for 363 days.
She was in the hospital for the first three months and the doctor had to keep giving her morphine because she couldn’t take the pain from the burns on her body, face, and limbs.
Kim told The Pattaya News that the Mountain B owners helped her with her whole start-up costs, which came to about 100,000 baht.
Kim, however, had to go from one hospital to another in order to receive thorough care. Due to this, her family incurred expenses of about 4 million baht.
Before she was sent to Somdej Phra Borommaratchathewi Hospital in Sri Racha for treatment, Bangkok-Pattaya Hospital’s medical costs had already surpassed 600,000 baht.
It was necessary to resolve a substantial debt of more than 3 million baht from the latter hospital through a debt payback agreement, which, as of this writing, has not been met.
Kim said, “I used to be able to support my family financially. It feels like a living hell right now.
Mr. Long Van Dinh, her older brother, who had to leave his work to care for Kim, disclosed that he had to borrow a sizable quantity of money to cover the costs.
He hoped that the proprietor of the venue or the appropriate organizations may offer more aid to cover his sister’s high medical expenses.
Despite a public uproar last year, Kim was ineligible for the majority of the Thai government’s reimbursement and compensation for victims since she is not a Thai citizen.
Kim and her family were not qualified for the bulk of these programs, despite the fact that the Thai judicial department and numerous other organizations assisted provide financial aid to Thai victims.
The pictures of Kim have been released with the permission of her family.
Private donations can be accepted to Krungsri Ayutthaya 628-1-195973 Mr. Long Van Dinh, Kim’s brother.
Credit goes to the Pattaya News for there coverage and help
