Thailand’s government has ordered inspections of entertainment venues and public buildings nationwide within 30 days, after a fire at a Bangkok pub killed 32 people and injured dozens more. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who also serves as interior minister, gave the directive following a blaze that tore through the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao restaurant and bar in the capital’s Chatuchak district late Sunday night.
The Police Hospital said Wednesday that the death toll had climbed to 32 after two more victims died of their injuries. Thirty people remained hospitalized, including 15 in intensive care, while 44 others had been discharged, according to several news sources. Investigators believe the fire likely started from an electrical short circuit in a ceiling air conditioning unit, though police are also examining whether negligence, including obstructed emergency exits, contributed to the death toll.
Under the new directive, the Interior Ministry will lead the inspections, working with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, local authorities, and the Royal Thai Police. Teams will check fire prevention systems, emergency exits, building occupancy limits, and compliance with existing safety laws. Venues found to be in violation will be ordered to suspend operations immediately until they fix the problems and pass a follow-up check, with results made public.
Anutin has also pledged a broader review of the laws governing entertainment venues and zoning, saying many of the current rules are outdated. Existing regulations bar venues from operating within roughly two kilometers of a school or temple, a standard he suggested is nearly impossible to meet anywhere in Bangkok. He said any changes would need to balance public safety with the livelihoods of business owners, and that many of the problems stem from operators knowingly breaking existing rules rather than gaps in the law itself.
In Bangkok, Governor Chadchart Sittipunt has gone further at the city level. Following an executive meeting with all 50 district directors on Tuesday, he ordered them to conduct in-person safety inspections of venues every night rather than on the periodic schedules used in the past, which tended to cluster around holidays and festivals. Officials will be required to shut down any venue found posing an immediate safety risk. The city is also expanding its inspection checklist and preparing a new guidance manual for district officials to use when reviewing venues in detail.
The scrutiny follows revelations that Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao had passed a BMA safety inspection in April even though a later police review found its fire safety measures were inadequate. Because the venue was licensed as a restaurant rather than an entertainment venue, it was not required to install an automatic sprinkler system. It also used acoustic foam lining to muffle noise from live music, a material identified as a factor in past Thai nightclub fires because it burns quickly and produces toxic smoke.
The tragedy is the latest in a pattern that has repeated itself in Thailand for nearly two decades. A 2009 nightclub fire in Bangkok killed at least 65 people, and a 2022 blaze at a pub in Chon Buri province killed dozens more. Just 12 days before the Lat Phrao fire, a bar in South Pattaya that was operating without a license and had no fire exit caught fire and killed an employee. Each incident has prompted government promises of stricter enforcement, though inspections have historically lapsed once public attention moved on.
Police are preparing possible charges against the venue’s owner and a business partner once forensic evidence and witness accounts are complete. The owner remains in critical condition from injuries sustained in the fire.
With inspections now underway across the country and Bangkok’s nightly district checks already in place, authorities say results will be released publicly as the 30-day review proceeds.
