Dear Sir,

"My family and I recently attended a wonderful concert at the beautiful KAD Theatre in Chiangmai. Billed as a "family concert", we were thrilled by both the music and the dance and delighted at the number of families that attended.

What was a wonderful evening for over 1,000 families could, however, have quickly turned into one of the biggest and most preventable tragedies in Thailand. Towards the end of the concert, many families with sleepy children began to try to leave. Imagine their shock when they were confronted with locked doors and ushers who refused to let them out! They were directed to go back up the stairs to two small elevators located in a room full of construction and maintenance debris.

Within minutes, hundreds of people were milling about the theatre trying to find their way out. There were no clearly marked Emergency Exit signs, no signs marking Stairs. The ushers continued to direct people back up the stairs into the crowd that was descending until shortly before the end of the concert. But the confusion was not yet over.

Once the audience emerged from the theatre into the connected shopping centre, they again found no clearly marked exits. The escalators had been turned off, and people were again forced to wander around seeking a way out. I shudder to think what would have happened to all of those families had there been a fire in either the theatre or the shopping centre.

Discussing this situation with other people in Chiangmai, I find that this is not an isolated incident - but the management policy at the KAD Theatre and Kad Suan Gaew shopping mall! Apparently the same thing happens at every performance in the theatre, but most people attending don't know they are at such risk.

My family and I will attend no more performances unless these policies change. I urge your readers to contact those people who might assist us in correcting this very dangerous situation."

Ed: In accordance with our policy on consumer complaints we gave a copy of this letter to the senior management of Kad Suan Kaew, but unfortunately had not received a response at time of going to press.

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