Lighting and sound technician Phanuwat Thipmanee, known as "Nong Benz", has died after suffering severe injuries in the fire at the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao entertainment venue. His death brings the confirmed toll from the blaze to 36.

The 31-year-old was responsible for the venue's lighting, sound and stage systems. He had been receiving treatment for more than 10 days following the late-night fire on 12 July.

Technician died in Lop Buri hospital

Phanuwat died at King Narai Hospital in Lop Buri at 9.50pm on 24 July 2026, according to a report published at 2pm on 25 July.

The fire at Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao caused a large number of deaths and injuries. Several injured people remain under close medical care, with medical teams continuing to monitor their conditions.

His death is the latest loss linked to the incident, which has prompted continuing assistance efforts by several agencies for those injured in the blaze.

Cause of fire remains under investigation

Authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the fire and collect evidence for further legal proceedings. No cause has yet been stated in the report.

The incident also underlines the potential impact of major venue fires on workers behind the scenes, including technicians and other employees who may be present during late-night operations. At present, the immediate focus remains on the treatment of survivors and the official investigation.

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25 July 2026

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There has already been a lot of criticism leveled at Thai authorities for their seemingly abject failure to properly enforce compliance and safety standards. The growing number of fatalities from the Rong Beer Na tragedy only adds fuel to the fire (poor pun).

Sadly, this happened despite the lessons that should have been learnt after Santika Club fire right here in Bangkok on New Year's Eve 2009 that killed 67 people under almost the exact same conditions (indoor fireworks hitting a combustible roof with severe exit bottlenecks).

But before the standard "only in Thailand" bashing derails the thread, let's keep some global perspective. Thailand is unfortunately not unique when it comes to horrific entertainment venue fires. When greed and poor fire codes collide, the results are catastrophic anywhere in the world.

I did a quick search of the Web and found the following list of a few similar events:

1. United States (2003): The Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island killed 100 people after illegal indoor fireworks lit cheap soundproofing foam.

2. Russia (2009): The Lame Horse club fire in Perm claimed 156 lives due to plastic ceiling decorations and a lack of exits.

3. Brazil (2013): The Kiss nightclub fire killed 242 people under almost identical conditions of overcrowding, toxic acoustic foam, and blocked exits.

4. Romania (2015): The Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest killed 64 people due to single-door exit bottlenecks and flammable foam.

The common denominator in all of these isn't Thai culture or "Amazing Thailand" bureaucracy, it's venue owners globally ignoring basic safety regulations to squeeze a profit, coupled with inspectors turning a blind eye.

Thailand clearly needs to do a lot more to cleanup of its nightlife licensing loopholes, but let's not pretend this brand of negligence is strictly local.

10 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the fire and collect evidence for further legal proceedings. No cause has yet been stated in the report.

The late Lee Kreindler was the leading disaster attorney in the US. His cases included PanAm 103, the NY Trade Center 9//11 attack and the TWA 800 L1011 explosion.

In the NY Times obituary FEB 2003 it said:

Mr. Kreindler flew a great deal, and it bothered him not at all.

''I'm a very relaxed passenger,'' he said. ''It's extremely safe. An accident only happens when there is an extraordinary coincidence of a number of things going wrong.''

NB in any disaster there may be a multitude of things that simultaneously went wrong and many of them may not obvious in the short term.

Edited July 25Jul 25 by JerryM

14 hours ago, Jim Waldron said:

The common denominator in all of these isn't Thai culture or "Amazing Thailand

Another couple of common denominators is that the most recent example from other countries was 11 years ago and the fires were 'one and done' as opposed to Thailand which makes it an almost biennial event. Santika was the most memorable but there have been a few since then and there will be more to come.

Your post was very good and well thought out. I happily gave it the thumbs up.

14 hours ago, Jim Waldron said:

There has already been a lot of criticism leveled at Thai authorities for their seemingly abject failure to properly enforce compliance and safety standards.

United States (2003): The Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island killed 100 people after illegal indoor fireworks lit cheap soundproofing foam.

NB The comprehensive final documentation, titled Report of the Technical Investigation of The Station Nightclub Fire (NIST NCSTAR 2), was published in June 2005—roughly 2 years and 4 months after the tragic event.

Volume I: Contains the main body of the technical investigation, findings, and safety recommendations spanning over 300 pages.

This is a discussion forum But it must be also considered that some of what gets posted on here now will end up being wrong.

15 hours ago, Jim Waldron said:

There has already been a lot of criticism leveled at Thai authorities for their seemingly abject failure to properly enforce compliance and safety standards. The growing number of fatalities from the Rong Beer Na tragedy only adds fuel to the fire (poor pun).

Sadly, this happened despite the lessons that should have been learnt after Santika Club fire right here in Bangkok on New Year's Eve 2009 that killed 67 people under almost the exact same conditions (indoor fireworks hitting a combustible roof with severe exit bottlenecks).

But before the standard "only in Thailand" bashing derails the thread, let's keep some global perspective. Thailand is unfortunately not unique when it comes to horrific entertainment venue fires. When greed and poor fire codes collide, the results are catastrophic anywhere in the world.

I did a quick search of the Web and found the following list of a few similar events:

1. United States (2003): The Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island killed 100 people after illegal indoor fireworks lit cheap soundproofing foam.

2. Russia (2009): The Lame Horse club fire in Perm claimed 156 lives due to plastic ceiling decorations and a lack of exits.

3. Brazil (2013): The Kiss nightclub fire killed 242 people under almost identical conditions of overcrowding, toxic acoustic foam, and blocked exits.

4. Romania (2015): The Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest killed 64 people due to single-door exit bottlenecks and flammable foam.

The common denominator in all of these isn't Thai culture or "Amazing Thailand" bureaucracy, it's venue owners globally ignoring basic safety regulations to squeeze a profit, coupled with inspectors turning a blind eye.

Thailandtravel guides

Thailand clearly needs to do a lot more to cleanup of its nightlife licensing loopholes, but let's not pretend this brand of negligence is strictly local.

Agree. And much more recently the Swiss nightclub fire last year. Very similar to the Na Ladprao fire.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/11/crans-montana-fire-murder-charges-request-bar-owners

and in 2003...again very similar. Not just Thailand, all of the world's nightclubs haven't learned.. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czejykzg77po

Swiss bar fire: Survivors recall 2003 US 'flashover' blaz...

Twenty-two years before the Swiss ski resort fire, Gina escaped a near-identical disaster. Would you know what to do if it happened to you?

13 minutes ago, ronnie50 said:

Agree. And much more recently the Swiss nightclub fire last year. Very similar to the Na Ladprao fire.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/11/crans-montana-fire-murder-charges-request-bar-owners

and in 2003...again very similar. Not just Thailand, all of the world's nightclubs haven't learned.. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czejykzg77po

Thailandtravel guides

Swiss bar fire: Survivors recall 2003 US 'flashover' blaz...

Twenty-two years before the Swiss ski resort fire, Gina escaped a near-identical disaster. Would you know what to do if it happened to you?

These events happen worldwide and below is list of the most serious fires over last 25 years. These will not be the last.

Legislation and inspections are only as good as the last inspection and most posters will be surprised that most fire inspections, in their own countries will normally be annual, unless complaints against a venue are received.

Every fire investigation, will normally find multiple failings that lead up to the fire; from illegal modifications, additional flammable fittings, lack of maintenance, inspection regime, human error, electrical alterations, modification to fire safety and protection systems, lack of training, overcrowding, locked or blocked means of escape, etc, etc. the list just goes on.

The final report will only be released after it has undergone full forensic investigation and is legal signed off.

Date	Venue	City, Country	Deaths	Injuries
1 Jan 2001	Volendam New Year’s Cafe Fire	Volendam, Netherlands	14	241
20 Feb 2003	The Station Nightclub	West Warwick, Rhode Island, USA	100	230
30 Dec 2004	Republica Cromanon	Buenos Aires, Argentina	194	1,492+
1 Jan 2009	Santika Club	Bangkok, Thailand	67	222
21 Sept 2008	Wuwang Club	Shenzhen, China	43	88
27 Jan 2013	Kiss Nightclub	Santa Maria, Brazil	242	630
30 Oct 2015	Colectiv Club	Bucharest, Romania	64	146
2 Dec 2016	Ghost Ship music venue	Oakland, California, USA	36	2
22 Jan 2022	Liv’s Nightclub	Yaounde, Cameroon	16	8
25 Jan 2022	Double O Nightclub	Sorong, Indonesia	19	Not reported
5 Aug 2022	Mountain B Nightclub	Sattahip, Thailand	26	22
6 Sept 2022	An Phu Karaoke	Binh Duong, Vietnam	32	3
5 Nov 2022	Polygon Cafe	Kostroma, Russia	13	5
1 Oct 2023	Fonda Milagros / Teatre	Murcia, Spain	13	Not reported
2 Apr 2024	Masquerade Nightclub	Istanbul, Turkey	29	8
16 Mar 2025	Pulse Nightclub	Kocani, North Macedonia	63	195
7 Dec 2025	Birch by Romeo Lane	Goa, India	25	50
1 Jan 2026	Le Constellation Bar	Crans-Montana, Switzerland	41	115
12 Jul 2026	Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao	Bangkok, Thailand	33	73