Firefighters Warn Against Hiding in Bathrooms During Fires

On July 13, 2025, Theeraphol Rungduangdee, a Thai national disaster relief volunteer, detailed the rescue operation at a beer bar fire in the Ladprao area. Rescue teams arrived at the scene at 12:18 a.m. and began operations at approximately 12:20 a.m., about 20 minutes after the fire started. They found three victims collapsed in the women's bathroom and five more in small rooms, successfully evacuating all eight through a rear employee exit. Rescue workers managed to move victims to a safe zone where medical staff provided care; most had suffered smoke inhalation rather than direct burns, though some ran through flames and sustained various degrees of injury.

Rescuers identified the bathroom area as where most victims were trapped. According to smoke inhalation theory, victims lose consciousness within five minutes, but this fire produced brown smoke—a toxic gas ignited from the ceiling—creating radiation effects throughout the space. Theeraphol stressed that most fire victims instinctively hide in bathrooms believing it offers protection, when in reality it does not; he found 13 victims unconscious in bathrooms at this incident.

Regarding emergency exit signage, Theeraphol noted that visibility was zero during rescue operations because smoke and darkness obscured everything. Thai building codes place exit signs above the ceiling, but smoke rises and blocks them from view—unlike Japan, Thailand lacks reflective glow-in-the-dark stickers at floor level for visibility. He could not confirm whether the two rear doors were locked, as firefighters entered from the front regardless of obstacles, though the narrow space required extreme caution. The building's height of only 2.5 meters, compared to the standard 3 meters, may have allowed heat to rise and spread faster during the fire.