A total of 682 people have sued two fireworks traders and a construction contractor for damages of 300 million baht over the huge and fatal warehouse explosion in Narathiwat in July.
The explosion at a warehouse used to store fireworks on July 29 this year killed 11 people, injured 389 and damaged 649 houses and three schools.
The warehouse owners, Sompong Nakul, 42, and his wife Piyanuch Puengwirawat, 42, were at Narathiwat Provincial Court on Tuesday, along with a construction contractor who built the shelves in the warehouse.
The couple and the construction contractor already face criminal charges that include recklessness causing death, substandard construction causing death, illegally trading and importing fireworks, and making unauthorised alterations to a building.
The couple offered assets worth one million baht as security for release on bail. The court rejected their request.
Mr Sompong's lawyer said the couple would do their best to pay compensation and had placed 1.1 million baht in cash with the court to help the families of the 11 people killed by the blast.
One of the lawyers for the plaintiffs said the two sides would initially discuss compensation at a meeting set for Feb 5 next year.
The explosion occurred around 3pm on July 29, reportedly during welding at the warehouse at the Muno market in Sungai Kolok district, next to Malaysia.
The warehouse was flattened and market stalls and hundreds of houses destroyed or damaged.
