Bangkok bar fire death toll rises to 32, negligence suspected

A Bangkok pub fire that left patrons trapped in windowless bathrooms near a rear exit has climbed to 32 dead, as Thai police investigate whether locked or obstructed exits turned the venue into a death trap. Firefighters brought the blaze at Rong Beer Na Ladprao in Chatuchak district under control in about 30 minutes, but officials said the venue’s layout and escape routes may have been fatal once smoke filled the room.

The toll moved steadily upward from at least 27 to 28, then 30, before two more victims died in hospital. Bangkok officials said dozens of people remained hospitalized, including critically injured patients, and Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said smoke inhalation caused most of the deaths. The fire, which broke out late on July 12, was described by Thai officials as the deadliest in Bangkok in 17 years.

Investigators said many victims were found in windowless bathrooms close to a rear exit, and police said some exit doors may have been locked or blocked by tables, shelving or lockers. Those details have put negligence at the center of the inquiry. Kittharath Punpetch, who leads the national police force, and other investigators are examining whether the crowd had enough ways out as the fire spread through the bar’s interior.

The case has revived painful memories of Thailand’s worst nightlife disasters. The Santika nightclub fire in Bangkok’s Ekkamai area on Jan. 1, 2009 killed 67 people and injured more than 200 during a New Year’s celebration. A Thai music-bar fire in 2022 killed 14 more. Together, the three cases show the same failure pattern: exits blocked when they are needed most, overcrowding that slows evacuation, and venue safety rules that often exist more on paper than in practice.

Safety experts have framed the Bangkok blaze as a classic assembly-occupancy fire-safety failure, the kind that keeps repeating in bars and clubs around the world. Survivors and family members later went to a police station to seek compensation, collect belongings and give statements, while Thailand’s prime minister visited the site and officials pressed ahead with a negligence inquiry that could determine whether the disaster becomes another case study in preventable loss.