Blocked exits, faulty wiring? Thailand probes Bangkok bar fire that killed 28

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BANGKOK – Investigators on July 13 combed through the wreckage of a huge fire at a Bangkok bar that killed at least 28 people, as relatives began the grim task of identifying the dead.

More than 70 people were injured following the blaze on the night of July 12 on the outskirts of the Thai capital, officials said. It was Thailand’s worst blaze in a bar in almost two decades.

Flames ripped through the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao bar and restaurant and burst out of the entrance, sending people fleeing, several with their clothes burnt or ablaze.

“Everybody was running, squeezing into one another,” recalled Athipat “Ice” Wijarn, whose band was on stage when the fire broke out at around 11pm on July 12 (midnight, Singapore time).

The lights went out and they noticed smoke coming from the electrical circuit on the wall behind them, he told Thai talk show Hone-Krasae.

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”.

The keyboardist, Kwang, and the band’s singer, Breeze, both died.

Kaew-udon Poungppany, a Laotian, fought back tears as he described his desperate attempts to reach his younger brother, Phonepaseut Poungppany, 21, who died in the fire.

“I grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed it at the door, but I couldn’t go any further. I heard people screaming,” the 24-year-old told reporters.

The bodies of the victims were taken away early in the morning on July 13 before forensic police began picking their way through the devastated venue.

“The fire spread very quickly, reaching up to the ceiling. Smoke was likely the main cause of death,” Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt told reporters at the scene.

It was the deadliest fire in Thailand since a blaze tore through Bangkok’s Santika club during New Year celebrations in 2009, killing 67 people and injuring more than 200.

Reporters saw blackened stools, tables and the band’s musical instruments inside the bar, while shoes were scattered on the floor near the back door of the venue.

‘Blind spots’

National police chief Kitrat Panphet said his investigators were hoping to speak to the owner of Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao, who is in intensive care in hospital.

“Most of the people who died were found in the toilets. When the fire broke out, they panicked. There were no lights,” Kitrat told reporters.

Police are checking if the exit doors were accessible, he said, noting that one was obstructed by a shelf, meaning only one person at a time could pass through.

They are also looking at the electrical wiring in the 50-year-old building and whether any decorations may have fuelled the fire, he said.

“We presume it is carelessness,” Kitrat said.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who visited the scene earlier, said initial inquiries suggested that there were “blind spots” without a visible fire escape route.

He urged everyone to wait for the official findings, but added: “There will be no leniency if any laws have been broken.”

‘Loud screaming’

The injured were taken to hospitals across Bangkok, where many had gathered in hopes of finding relatives or to identify the bodies.

An elderly woman, who gave her name as Nid, lost her daughter, Namtip Tubsook, and son-in-law, Suwitcha Sirililung, and is left caring for their children, aged four and five.

“Now I don’t have any of them, only my two grandchildren who have lost their parents,” she said, her eyes brimming with tears.

The force of the blast stunned observers, as did the carnage it caused.

Laotian tourist Kan Kutirat, who was in the bar at the time, said he “heard loud screaming from a lot of people inside – chaos happened”.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” he said. “The images are still stuck in my mind.”

Motorbike taxi driver Surin Jaiharn said he saw the fire burst into the street from the bar door.

He helped about five people fleeing with burnt and blistering skin, while another driver carried a victim away from the danger.

“I feel depressed. I saw many deaths and I do not know the fate of the people I helped,” Surin, 45, said.

Thailand’s approach to health and safety regulations, particularly in its bars and nightclubs, has long raised concerns.

In 2022, 25 people died after a fire ripped through the Mountain B nightclub in Thailand’s eastern Chonburi province.

Senior Justice Ministry official Triyarith Temahivong pledged 300,000 baht (S$11,600) for the family of each victim who died and up to 80,000 baht for medical costs for each injured person.

But for Kanlayawat Banruangthong, 34, “no amount of money” will soften the blow of losing her cousin, Sittipong Chaiyo.

She said the 23-year-old’s mother is travelling from the family home in Ubon Ratchathani, near the eastern border with Laos, to confirm his identity through DNA.

Meanwhile, Kaew-udon waited to take his brother’s body home.

“My parents are waiting for their son to return so the family can be together again,” he said. AFP