Fire at a music bar in Bangkok kills at least 27 people

BANGKOK (AP) — A huge fire tore through a music bar in Bangkok overnight, killing at least 27 people and leaving 25 hospitalized in critical condition in the Thai capital's most deadly blaze in 17 years.

Photos from the Rong Beer Na Ladprao bar in a northern part of the Thai capital showed people fleeing as flames shot out the single-story building and thick black smoke billowed into the sky. Shoes lost and scattered as their owners sought to flee could be seen in pictures from the aftermath of the tragedy.

Bangkok city officials said the fire broke out shortly before midnight Sunday, and it was about half an hour until firefighters brought it under control.

By daylight Monday morning, the site had been cordoned off as dozens of Thai forensic officers combed through the burned remains for clues about what caused the fire.

The building’s street-facing windows had been blown out and debris littered the sidewalk, including charred television sets, speakers and an electric guitar. From outside, the scale of the devastation was visible through the shattered windows, where burned-out tables, some still holding empty beer bottles, stood inside.

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.

Access to another exit near the kitchen might also have been narrowed by shelving units and lockers, said Kittharath, who visited the scene Monday morning. There were signs that at least some of the exit doors might have been locked shut, he added.

Investigators are focusing on the ceiling above the performance stage, where they found materials that may have been used as decorative elements, he said. Police will examine whether flammable materials were used in the interior and how electrical wiring was installed across the ceiling.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters that a musician who was performing at the bar 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 place.

According to Bangkok’s Erawan emergency services center, 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.

Some Buddhist monks visited the site Monday morning to pray for the victims, while nurses handed out face masks to people nearby to help protect them from smoke and lingering fumes from the burned-out building.

A registration spot was set up to gather information from relatives coming at the scene looking for their loved ones.

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 hospitalized and one hasn't been located.

“From what I heard from people who were inside, when the fire started everything went dark. The power was out and there was smoke everywhere, so they couldn’t locate other people,” she said.

Distressed family members gathered at Bangkok's Institute of Forensic Medicine in the afternoon to identify the bodies of the fire's victims .

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,” she said.

Keo Oudone Poungpany, 24, was at the institute to identify his younger brother's body. The two, migrant workers from neighboring Laos, were bar employees working when the fire broke out.

Poungpany said he was using a restroom outside of the bar when the fire broke out.

“I really don’t know what happened,” he said, recounting that while walking back toward the bar, he encountered dozens of people running away from the flames and heard terrifyingly loud noises.

From the outside of the bar, he began shouting for his brother. “The heat was unbearable, I couldn’t get back in,” he said.

“For now, I want to bring my younger brother’s body back home,” said Poungpany. “I want to bring him home to my parents. My parents are waiting for their kids to come back together, but now one is gone.”

In 2022, 14 people were killed by a fire at a music bar in the eastern part of the country. And more than a decade before that, 67 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a fire during a Jan. 1, 2009, New Year’s Eve celebration at the Santika nightclub in Thailand's capital. That blaze was apparently sparked by an indoor fireworks display.

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This report corrects the total number of dead from the 2009 fire at Bangkok's Santika nightclub to 67. The number 66 was based on an early story that had not been updated.

In this handout photo released by Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, bottles are seen on a table at the site of a fire in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, July 13, 2026. (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration via AP)

Bodies of victims of a fire are seen laid in a row in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

In this handout photo released by Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, forensic police officers inspect the site of a fire in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, July 13, 2026. (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration via AP)

In this handout photo released by Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, forensic police officers inspect the site of a fire in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, July 13, 2026. (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration via AP)

In this handout photo released by Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the interior of a beer bar is seen after a fire in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, July 13, 2026. (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration via AP)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Thai authorities are investigating a Bangkok bar fire that killed at least 27 people and injured dozens more, the latest in a long history of catastrophic fires at bars, clubs, and other nightlife venues worldwide.

Experts say the high death toll may reflect factors common to past entertainment venue fires, including inadequate safety measures. The blaze, which broke out shortly before midnight Sunday, apparently spread rapidly across a ceiling lined with flammable decorative materials before reaching the main entrance. Local media suggest crowded conditions, obstructed escape routes, and panic may have hampered evacuation.

Here’s what to know about the fire:

Videos shared online by witnesses show a blaze engulfing the Na Ladprao music bar as thick black smoke pours from the front entrance and people scramble to flee. Photos and videos from the scene Monday showed Thai investigators examining the gutted building, where the heaviest damage appeared to be overhead. Large sections of the ceiling were destroyed, blackened and charred, while the floor and tables below, some still with beer bottles on them, were blanketed in ash and debris.

Thailand Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said a musician performing at the bar told him he saw smoke coming from a circuit breaker near the stage before the power went out. An explosion was then heard and thick smoke quickly filled the bar.

Thai officials said investigators would examine the ceiling materials and whether any emergency exits were obstructed, potentially hindering evacuation. A Google image from February shows what appeared to be plastic plants in the ceiling above the stage.

Lee Young Ju, a fire safety professor at South Korea’s Kyungil University, said the fire may have been caused by an electrical fault, possibly involving audio or lighting equipment or faulty wiring, sparking a blaze that quickly spread across the ceiling.

Aside from examining whether flammable materials were used in the interior and how electrical wiring was installed overhead, police are also investigating whether gas canisters were stored in the kitchen and whether they contributed to the blaze, Royal Thai Police chief Kittharath Punpetch said.

Huang Xinyan, a professor at Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University, said footage of the fire site suggests the bar contained combustible foam materials, lacked a sprinkler system and had small exits that may have hampered evacuation. He added that plastic decorations on the ceiling may have been combined with combustible foam soundproofing materials, potentially fueling the fire’s rapid spread.

While the bar may have fallen short of safety standards, Lee said it’s unclear whether sprinklers would have slowed the blaze if it spread across the ceiling, as they are not designed to extinguish fires burning overhead.

The fire is the latest in a string of deadly blazes at entertainment venues around the world, a recurring type of disaster that has killed hundreds of people over the years. In the early hours of New Year's Day, a fire tore through a bar in the Swiss ski resort town of Crans-Montana, killing about 40 people and injuring more than 100. A 2013 fire at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, southern Brazil, killed more than 200.

Huang said the Bangkok fire may resemble the fire in Switzerland, noting that such venues tend to have large amounts of flammable soundproofing materials and overcrowded conditions which contribute to the high number of casualties.

Lee said the large fatalities in entertainment venue fires often stem from large crowds packed into relatively small spaces, making quick evacuation difficult. Such venues frequently lack sufficient exits, and most patrons are familiar only with the main entrance they used to enter, while loud music and alcohol can leave them less aware and slower to respond when an emergency strikes, he said.

Jiang Liming, another professor at Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University, noted that pubs typically lack large glass windows and the exits may be blocked by panicked people when there’s a fire.

“Once there was a rapidly growing fire, large (numbers) of casualties might occur due to high density of people and fast accumulation of smoke,” Jiang said.

Kong Ha-song, a disaster prevention professor at South Korea’s Woosuk University, said death tolls in bar and nightclub fires are often worsened because the venues can resemble a “maze,” with beer crates, tables and other obstacles blocking hallways and escape routes, while emergency exits are sometimes kept locked to prevent unauthorized entry or theft.

Kittharath, the Thai police chief, said the single-story bar had four exits, but police were examining whether the two rear exits were blocked or unusable. One exit near the restrooms, where most of the victims were found, had a table blocking the way, while another near the kitchen had a damaged exit sign and a sliding door missing its handle.

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Leung reported from Hong Kong. AP writer Jintamas Saksornchai contributed from Bangkok.

A forensic police officer leaves the site of a fire in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

In this handout photo released by Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, forensic police officers inspect the site of a fire in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, July 13, 2026. (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration via AP)

One of relatives of fire victims, front, leaves the Institute of Forensic Police hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, July 13, 2026, following a fire at a beer hall. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

In this handout photo released by Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, forensic police officers inspect the site of a fire in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, July 13, 2026. (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration via AP)

In this handout photo released by Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the interior of a beer bar is seen after a fire in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, July 13, 2026. (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration via AP)