A massive fire tore through a popular live music bar in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district shortly before midnight on Sunday, July 12, killing 28 people and leaving 25 others in critical condition in what Thai authorities confirmed is the country’s deadliest fire since the 2009 Santika Club blaze killed 67 people. Bangkok city officials said the fire at the Rong Beer Na Ladprao bar in a northern part of the Thai capital broke out shortly before midnight Sunday, and it took about half an hour for firefighters to bring it under control. The bar featured live music and claimed to accommodate as many as 600 customers.
A major fire at the Na Ladprao restaurant and bar in the Chatuchak area, Bangkok, Thailand. According to local news, 27-29 people have died. 63 were taken to the hospital, and 22 are in critical condition. pic.twitter.com/r5Arfi1M5a
— Ashish rai (@journorai) July 13, 2026
What Happened Inside
The accounts of survivors and first responders paint a consistent and devastating picture. Athipat “Ice” Wijarn, whose band was on stage when the fire broke out, told Thai talk show Hone-Krasae on Monday: “Everybody was running, squeezing into each other.” He said the lights went out and they noticed smoke coming from the electrical circuit on the wall behind them. As he crawled towards the exit, he said, “There was an explosion, and I got hit at the back of my head. I felt the heat and the burn.”
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said a musician who was performing at the pub told him that he saw smoke coming out of a circuit breaker near the stage before the power went out, then an explosion was heard and thick smoke quickly filled the venue.
Thai national police chief Kittharath Punpetch said most of the dead were found trapped in windowless bathrooms near one of the rear exits of the bar, where they may have sheltered to escape the flames in the hall. He said the exit had not been used, and people may have been obstructed from reaching it by a table set up in the hall to sell candy, or because it was too dark to find it.
Bangkok governor Chatchart Sittipunt said the pub had procured proper permits and had fire exits, but the fire spread rapidly and smoke filled the room, potentially making it hard for patrons to escape. The governor also said the pub’s flammable interior decorations on the bar’s ceiling may have facilitated the blaze’s rapid spread.
The Human Cost
According to Bangkok’s Erawan emergency services centre, the number of injured people was 73, with 25 in critical condition. Bangkok Gov. Chadchart Sittipunt said most of the deaths were caused by smoke inhalation and that the authorities are working on identifying victims as many did not carry ID.
A statement from the bar posted on Facebook expressed apologies and condolences and said it was fully cooperating with investigators. It said the bar’s owner sustained serious injuries in the fire and was in a hospital intensive care unit.
Singer Sukanya Wongwongwai said she was performing nearby when she heard news of the fire and rushed to the scene because several of her bandmates were performing at the bar. She said one of them died, three were hospitalised and one hadn’t been located.
Through tears, a woman who asked to be identified only by her nickname, Nid, said she had just identified the bodies of her daughter and son-in-law. She described her son-in-law as “a very good person, he worked very hard to earn money,” and said her daughter had just graduated. “She recently started working as a computer teacher. And now they’re dead.”
Why People Could Not Escape
The investigation is focused on a combination of factors that, in the accounts of survivors and investigators, made the fire’s death toll so high despite the relatively short time — approximately 30 minutes — it took firefighters to extinguish the blaze.
Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, reporting from Bangkok, said there were four exits at the bar, “but a number of them might have been locked.” The governor noted there were also reports of people found unconscious near the building’s emergency exit, suggesting there may have been some obstruction.
The combination of instant power failure, total darkness, thick smoke and a blocked or unreachable rear exit created conditions in which even people who had not been overcome by smoke inhalation within the first minutes had nowhere to go. The bathrooms — which some survivors entered seeking refuge from the smoke in the hall — proved fatal for most who took that route, as the windowless spaces had no secondary exit and no ventilation.
The Broader Context: Thailand’s Fire Safety Record
This is not the first time this has happened in Bangkok. “The worst accident was in 2009 when a nightclub burned down, killing more than 60 people,” Al Jazeera’s correspondent noted. The 2009 Santika Club fire — which killed 67 people during New Year celebrations — prompted a national review of fire safety standards in entertainment venues, emergency exit requirements, and the flammability of interior materials used in bar and club settings. The 2026 Rong Beer Na Ladprao fire represents a devastating repetition of a tragedy whose structural causes were supposed to have been addressed 17 years ago.
What the Investigation Is Focusing On
Forensic officers have cordoned off the site and are examining the electrical system near the stage, the interior decorations on the ceiling, the state of the rear exit and any obstruction to it, and the fire exit certification history of the venue. Prime Minister Anutin said the pub in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district rapidly filled with smoke after a fire broke out, forcing many to run to the back of the venue near the bathrooms, but there were no fire escapes.
Charges of criminal negligence causing death are expected to follow the investigation, targeting both the venue’s operators and potentially any safety inspection authorities who certified the building as compliant while the conditions that enabled Sunday night’s death toll were present.
