An investigation into the deadly fire at Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao bar in Bangkok has uncovered critical safety failures, including locked restroom doors and obstructed exits, as the death toll climbs to 30. Authorities have identified 27 of the victims as of Tuesday morning, July 14, 2026.

Preliminary investigations suggest the blaze was triggered by a short circuit in an air conditioner, which rapidly cut power throughout the bar. Survivors and first responders reported locked doors and a lack of emergency exit signage, complicating evacuation efforts.

Phatsara Khamloet, who visited the bar in May, described navigating a "winding route" to the bathroom and noted poorly marked exits. Fire safety expert Busakorn Saensuk from the Engineering Institute of Thailand, who inspected the site, confirmed the door near the restrooms was locked, while the two entrance doors were partially blocked by furniture. She told BBC Thai that customers instinctively fled toward the back where the restrooms were but were unable to exit.

"If the emergency signs were lit, people would have been able to see how the door was locked and may have been able to unlock it," Busakorn said.

Structural engineering professor Worsak Kanok Nukulchai suggested many victims likely died from inhaling toxic smoke, such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, before sustaining burns.

According to PBS Thai, the bar's owner previously operated another pub in Thailand's Yasothon province that was also destroyed by fire in December 2019; however, that incident caused no casualties as it occurred during the day.

Sources