Fair Party MP Kannavee Suebsang has urged the government to provide better aid to the victims of the explosion at a firework warehouse on August 31 in Muno market, Su-ngai Kolok District, Narathiwat Province. He noted that despite numerous regulations on fireworks production and storage, more than 100 firework-related explosions had occurred in the past ten years.

During an urgent parliamentary session to discuss the explosion on 3 August, Kannavee said he advocates a thorough examination of the various laws and regulations on fireworks, stressing that the underlying issue is the lack of community involvement in deciding whether to allow fireworks warehouses to be sited within communities.

He said that local people should have a say in decisions to allow entrepreneurs to build fireworks warehouses in their community through processes such as community referenda.

The MP also criticised the current government’s effort in providing aid and rehabilitation to the victims of the explosion, pointing out that they are merely charitable actions that lack sustainability.

He stated that principles of international humanitarian law and social welfare must be used to manage and direct these efforts.

“More than 400 households have been affected. We need to plan from the beginning, particularly for the shelters where I have observed the victims living temporarily. We must provide them with a safe place quickly because it will take years to build homes,” he said.