A catastrophic overnight blaze that has become Bangkok’s deadliest fire in 17 years ripped through a popular music bar in the Thai capital early Sunday, leaving at least 27 people dead and 25 others in critical, hospitalized condition, local authorities confirmed.
The fire erupted at Rong Beer Na Ladprao, a single-story music venue located in northern Bangkok, shortly before midnight on Sunday. Eyewitness accounts and on-site photos show panicked patrons fleeing the structure as towering flames burst through the roof and dense black smoke billowed into the night sky. In the wake of the disaster, scattered personal items, including dozens of lost shoes left by people scrambling to escape, litter the ground surrounding the gutted building.
It took approximately 30 minutes for firefighting teams to bring the blaze under full control, according to Bangkok city officials. By dawn on Monday, the entire site had been cordoned off as dozens of forensic investigators began a painstaking search through charred rubble to pinpoint the fire’s origin. The building’s street-facing windows were blown outward by the force of heat and smoke, leaving debris including warped, burned televisions, speakers and an electric guitar scattered across the adjacent sidewalk. Through the shattered glass, onlookers can see the full scale of the destruction: blackened, burned-out tables still stand inside the venue, many holding intact empty beer bottles that survived the inferno.
Thailand’s national police chief Kittharath Punpetch told reporters Monday after visiting the site that most of the deceased were found trapped in windowless bathrooms near the venue’s rear exit. It is believed these patrons fled to the bathrooms to escape advancing flames and smoke in the main hall, but were ultimately unable to escape. Multiple safety and access issues likely blocked escape routes for those inside, Kittharath explained. The rear exit was never accessed by fleeing patrons, and may have been blocked by a temporary table set up in the main hall to sell candy, or left undiscovered because the power failure left the venue completely dark. Access to a second exit near the kitchen area was also narrowed by installed shelving units and employee lockers, he added. Investigators have also found preliminary evidence that at least some of the venue’s required exit doors may have been locked at the time of the fire.
Investigators are currently focusing their examination on the ceiling above the bar’s performance stage, where decorative building materials were found. Police will conduct forensic testing to determine if flammable materials were used in the venue’s interior decor, and will also inspect the quality and installation of electrical wiring running through the ceiling area. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters that a musician performing on stage during the fire gave a firsthand account that matches the investigative focus: the performer told the prime minister he spotted smoke leaking from a circuit breaker near the stage moments before the venue lost power, followed by an explosion that allowed thick smoke to rapidly fill the entire space.
Data from Bangkok’s Erawan emergency services center puts the total number of injured at 73, with 25 of those patients fighting for life in critical condition. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt confirmed that most of the fatalities were caused by smoke inhalation, rather than burns. Authorities are currently working to identify all victims, as many of the deceased were not carrying personal identification at the time of the fire.
On Monday morning, Buddhist monks traveled to the disaster site to conduct spiritual rituals and pray for the souls of the victims. Medical personnel distributed face masks to local residents and people gathering near the site to protect against residual toxic smoke and fumes still emanating from the burned structure. Local officials also set up a dedicated registration station to collect information from relatives arriving at the site searching for missing loved ones.
Sukanya Wongwongwai, a local Thai singer, told reporters she had been performing at a nearby venue when she heard news of the fire, and rushed to Rong Beer Na Ladprao after learning several members of her band were scheduled to perform at the bar that night. As of Monday, she confirmed one of her bandmates had been killed in the blaze, three are hospitalized with injuries, and one remains unaccounted for. “From what I heard from people who were inside, when the fire started everything went dark immediately,” she said. “The power was out and there was smoke everywhere, so they couldn’t locate other people or find the exits.”
This disaster is the latest deadly fire to strike a Thai entertainment venue in recent decades. In 2022, a fire at another music bar in eastern Thailand killed 14 people. The deadliest blaze in Thailand’s recent history dates back to 2009, when a New Year’s Eve celebration at Bangkok’s Santika nightclub caught fire after indoor fireworks ignited the blaze, killing 66 people and injuring more than 200 others.