At least 27 killed in Bangkok bar fire, cause under investigation

Flames ripped through Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district, killing at least 27 people and sending several others to hospital after a fire that firefighters brought under control in about 35 minutes. Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the cause remained under investigation.

The blaze struck one of the district’s popular nightlife venues in the northern part of the capital, turning the front of the pub into a wall of fire as people fled. First responders later said some victims may have been trapped in restrooms, a detail that puts emergency exits, alarm systems and crowd movement under immediate scrutiny.

At the scene, bodies were laid in a row as responders worked through the wreckage. Crews also recovered victims’ mobile phones, a stark sign of how quickly the fire overtook the venue and how many people were caught before they could get out.

The deadliest Bangkok nightlife fire in recent memory remains the Santika nightclub disaster on January 1, 2009, in Ekkamai in Watthana district. That fire killed 67 people and injured more than 200, and it remains a reference point for every new inquiry into fire safety, occupancy limits and escape routes in crowded entertainment spots.

Thailand has seen other fatal venue fires since then. In 2022, a fire at a music pub in eastern Thailand killed 14 people. Together, the three disasters have kept pressure on authorities to examine whether nightlife venues are being inspected often enough and whether safety rules are being enforced before a blaze turns an ordinary night out into a mass-casualty scene.

For Bangkok, the immediate question now is not only what sparked the fire at Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao, but whether the building’s layout, crowd conditions or evacuation paths turned a fast-moving blaze into a far deadlier event. Investigators have not yet publicly identified the cause, and the toll may rise as officials account for the injured and the missing.