The death toll from a ferocious fire that tore through a live-music pub in Bangkok rose to 30 on Tuesday, officials said, as authorities launched investigations into potential safety lapses and the city’s governor promised more rigorous inspections.
The blaze struck the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao pub in the Chatuchak district of northern Bangkok close to midnight on Sunday, sweeping through the single-storey venue. Witnesses reported an explosion and a sudden horizontal sheet of flame and smoke that engulfed the club, one of a cluster of bars in the area frequented on weekend nights by crowds drawn to food, alcohol, live music and televised sports.
By Tuesday, officials said 24 people remained in critical condition and dozens of others treated after the incident had been discharged from hospital. Authorities also reported that three people who had been hospitalised after the fire had since died.
Local officials indicated an electrical short circuit in a ceiling-mounted air conditioner could have started the blaze. The pub had undergone a safety inspection in April, according to authorities, but investigators are now examining several lines of inquiry to establish what happened and why the fire spread with such deadly speed.
Police investigators are specifically looking into whether emergency exits were blocked and whether flammable materials were used in stage decorations or for soundproofing, both of which could have contributed to the rapid spread of flames. So far, police said 34 people had been interviewed in connection with the incident, and decisions on any charges will follow after facts and evidence have been gathered. The owner of the venue is reported to be among those receiving treatment in an intensive care unit.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt announced that a committee had been established to determine the facts, identify necessary improvements and recommend changes to existing rules. "We’ve set up a committee to investigate the truth, what should be improved and what rules should be changed," he said at a Tuesday news conference. "We will do more random checks."
At the city morgue on Tuesday, rescue workers moved a coffin while television cameras and reporters recorded family members and friends arriving to claim the body. Outside the burnt pub, relatives and acquaintances gathered to mourn as forensic teams collected evidence from the scene.
On its Facebook page the pub issued an apology and said it was cooperating fully with the investigation. "We apologise deeply over the very sad events that took place and express our condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and send our support to those injured," the post read. The message drew hundreds of comments, many expressing anger and questioning the venue’s safety measures. The pub did not answer calls or immediately respond to requests for comment about the preliminary findings of the investigation.
Thailand has seen other large-scale fires at entertainment venues in recent years, and while such establishments are subject to fire safety inspections, authorities acknowledge that protocols are not always strictly followed. The government and law enforcement are now expected to scrutinise compliance practices more closely in the wake of this tragedy.
In Bangkok’s Khaosan Road backpacker district, roughly 10 km (6 miles) from the site of the fire, visitors reacting to the news said they felt saddened but not personally alarmed about safety. One tourist, Connor McLernon, 30, from Boston, said: "It doesn’t worry us. All the places that we’ve been have been very safe." His travel companion, Patricia Bello McLernon, 31, added that she viewed the fire as an isolated accident and did not believe it should deter people from visiting.
Officials are continuing interviews and evidence collection as the investigative committee and police work to establish a full sequence of events. With the owner hospitalised and more than two dozen critically injured, the human toll remains high while questions over compliance with safety rules and the adequacy of inspections persist.
This developing inquiry will focus on technical causes such as the reported electrical short, on the physical layout and materials used inside the venue, and on whether regulatory inspections and on-the-ground practices were sufficient to protect patrons. Meanwhile, city officials have indicated they will expand random checks on similar venues as part of a broader response to the incident.