Representatives of the Interior Ministry and Industrial Works Department will be invited for a discussion about amending the outdated law governing the licencing of firework factories, House Industrial Affairs Committee chairman Akkaradet Wongpitakrote said.

He said that it is time for the obsolete law to be updated for public safety, following yesterday’s firework factory explosion in Suphan Buri, which killed at least 23 people.

According to the Factory Act, the setting up of a facility which hires fewer than 50 people or is equipped with machinery under 50 horse power does not require a license from the Industrial Works Department, said the United Thai Nation party MP.

Since most firework factories employ fewer than 50 people, or are equipped with small machinery, they are beyond the control of the Industrial Works Department, he said.