At least 27 individuals have lost their lives in a fire that erupted at a nightclub in Bangkok, according to a local rescue agency official on Monday. This incident ranks among the most fatal in the city’s recent history, a popular tourist destination. Anwut Pho-ampai from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation confirmed that the death toll exceeds 27. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul stated that the fire’s cause is still under investigation, with details remaining unclear. Reports suggest the blaze started at Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district.
الوسم: Bangkok
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Thailand’s Queen Sirikit Passes Away at 93
Thailand’s former Queen Sirikit, the mother of King Vajiralongkorn and wife of the country’s longest-reigning monarch, passed away late Friday at the age of 93, according to the royal palace. The Thai royal family is highly revered, often regarded by many as semi-divine figures, with expansive media coverage and portraits displayed across public spaces and private homes nationwide.
“Her loss is deeply felt by the nation,” Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul stated on Saturday, announcing he would postpone his departure for a weekend summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Malaysia.
During her 66-year marriage to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Sirikit gained a reputation as both a fashion icon and a compassionate matriarch—frequently featured in Western media on magazine covers and compared to Jackie Kennedy, the former U.S. First Lady.
“I had heard she had been unwell, and given her age, I knew this day might come,” said 53-year-old housekeeper Sasis Putthasit early Saturday in Bangkok. “But I didn’t expect it to be today. It’s very sad because she was like a mother figure for the nation, and now she’s gone.”
The palace noted that Sirikit had experienced several health issues, including a blood infection earlier this month, leading to her hospitalization since 2019. Her condition worsened until she passed away at Chulalongkorn Hospital.
King Vajiralongkorn has designated members of the royal family to oversee a year of mourning, with Thai media and officials wearing black in observance starting Saturday. Crowds gathered outside Chulalongkorn Hospital, holding portraits of the late queen and paying respects.
Her death “signifies a momentous event for the Thai royal family and the entire country, considering her enormous popularity and close ties to the late king, whom many still deeply revere,” remarked Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a former diplomat and scholar studying Thailand’s monarchy.
Known as the “Mother of the Nation,” Sirikit’s reign in the 1960s saw her mingling with U.S. presidents and celebrities like Elvis Presley, while also traveling extensively within Thailand to visit rural communities. Her birthday was officially designated as Thailand’s Mothers’ Day.
Store owner Tanyaporn Arammetha shared that she always viewed the late queen and king as parental figures. “She demonstrated genuine care for Thai people, much like a parent loves their children,” she said.
The country’s monarchy, established in 1782, currently faces a successor question, as King Vajiralongkorn has yet to formally name an heir. He has seven children—five sons from previous marriages who have been disowned and a 20-year-old son, Dipangkorn Rasmijoti.
Although the monarchy continues to enjoy high regard, it experienced unprecedented public protests in 2020 demanding political reforms and questioning royal authority—an extraordinary challenge in Thai history. The late queen also drew attention when she attended a royalist protester’s funeral in 2008.
Following King Bhumibol’s death, Thailand observed a year of mourning, with flags lowered to half-mast, bans on celebrations, and citizens wearing black. Sirikit’s body will lie in state at the Grand Palace’s Dusit Thron Hall in Bangkok.
A worker at a local food company reflected, “We’ve lost two guiding figures—Queen Sirikit and King Bhumibol. They’re watching over us from heaven.” International leaders also expressed condolences; Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended their sympathies, emphasizing Pakistan’s solidarity with Thailand during this period of mourning.
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Gunfire at Bangkok Market Leaves Six Dead
Six individuals lost their lives when an attacker opened fire at a marketplace in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday, according to authorities. The gunman, among the deceased, ended his own life, confirmed Charin Gopatta, Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau. Authorities stated they are still working to identify the shooter and determine what drove the incident. The five victims targeted by the gunman were security personnel working at the market.
Fortunately, no tourists were harmed in the attack, according to Sanong Saengmani, a police official in Bangkok’s Bang Sue district, where the market primarily sells agricultural products. Tourism is vital to Thailand’s economy— Southeast Asia’s second-largest— and occurrences like this risk dampening investor and visitor confidence amid sluggish economic growth.
Video footage released by police shows the suspect, wearing a white cap and carrying a backpack, walking through the market’s parking lot. Gun-related violence and firearm possession are not unusual in Thailand. Just last October, a 14-year-old armed with a modified handgun killed two individuals and wounded five at a luxury shopping mall in downtown Bangkok.
Previously, in 2022, a former police officer carried out a deadly attack at an eastern Thailand nursery, resulting in 36 deaths, including 22 children.
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Bangkok Residents Pursue Earthquake-Resistant Housing Options
A corridor in a high-rise condominium in Bangkok, showing damage after the earthquake on March 29, 2025. —AFP BANGKOK: Just hours after experiencing a powerful earthquake, Phatsakon Kaewkla returned home to find alarming cracks in the walls of his 22nd-floor apartment in Bangkok.
Feeling increasingly uneasy about the structural damage caused by the most intense tremors the capital has faced in decades, the 23-year-old decided to stay away for two days until experts declared the building safe.
Phatsakon is among numerous residents in Bangkok contemplating their housing options in a city where hundreds of residential structures were impacted by the 7.7-magnitude quake that struck Myanmar on March 28.
While the condominium’s management assured him that engineers had inspected the building and deemed it inhabitable, he remains unsettled by the cracks.
“I feel a little scared. My mom even suggested I should move out,” he stated.
Located over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the epicenter, Bangkok — characterized by its vivid skyline filled with numerous towers and glistening skyscrapers — rarely experiences such tremors.
Owen Zhu, a 40-year-old real estate consultant based in Bangkok, informed AFP that the earthquake has significantly impacted his industry.
“People are beginning to realize that living in high-rise buildings may pose higher risks concerning earthquake safety compared to low-rise structures,” he remarked.
In the days following the quake, Zhu noted a surge in inquiries from residents looking to relocate, fueled by widespread fear and anxiety about residing at significant heights.
‘A Shift in Perception’
Yigit Buyukergun from Turkey was at home with his wife when the earthquake struck. Once the shaking stopped, they emerged from sheltering under a table to assess the damage to their 22nd-floor apartment.
“Everywhere is cracked, especially in the corridor. It’s clear that the roof is in poor condition,” said the 25-year-old.
Even with the building owners declaring it “100% safe,” Buyukergun remains doubtful.
“I don’t believe it,” he commented.
In Bangkok’s extensive residential developments, many studio apartments are offered on long-term leases that require a two-month deposit. Most condominiums do not allow short-term rentals due to safety protocols, with only hotels permitted to rent for less than 30 days.
Zhu pointed out that disagreements between tenants and landlords over the safety of earthquake-damaged apartments are becoming increasingly common, resulting from differing perceptions of habitability.
“There’s a disconnect in perception and judgment between both parties,” he observed. “Landlords see the units as safe while tenants feel unsafe and insist on moving out to reclaim their deposits.”
Raising Standards
Prior to the earthquake, Thailand’s building safety standards were not particularly stringent. This was not a concern for many property-seeking clients, according to Zhu.
Heightening this anxiety was the alarming collapse of a 30-story construction in Bangkok, which trapped dozens of workers, many of whom are still unaccounted for a week later. Authorities are currently investigating whether poor-quality materials were utilized in its construction.
As a result of the quake, more of Zhu’s clients are now leaning toward low-rise buildings.
For those still inclined towards high-rises, they often seek properties that sustained minimal or no damage in the recent earthquake, or at least were not severely impacted.
Zhu believes that, in the long run, property values will increase as the demand for safer buildings stimulates the implementation of expensive seismic resistance measures, ultimately raising the standards within Thailand’s real estate market.
However, Buyukergun feels that discussions surrounding building regulations won’t ease his worries regarding uncontrollable geological factors.
His experiences with earthquakes in Turkey had already made him cautious, but he never expected to feel the same unease while living in Thailand.
“I always thought Thailand was safe,” he recalled. “That’s why I found it hard to believe an earthquake could actually happen here.”
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Myanmar Quake Claims Nearly 700 Lives; Aid Efforts Underway
Rescue efforts at the site of a collapsed building following a powerful earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, March 29, 2025. — Reuters - 2,376 individuals reported injured, with 30 unaccounted for.
- USGS predicts potential toll could reach the thousands.
- International relief operations underway, with a Chinese aid team now in the region.
The toll from a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar has risen to 1,002, according to the state-run MRTV, as international aid has begun to arrive for relief efforts.
Rescue teams continue to search for survivors in the Southeast Asian nation, where the death count is likely to rise. Reports indicate that 2,376 people have been injured and 30 individuals are still missing.
“Infrastructure including roads, bridges, and buildings has been severely impacted, resulting in numerous civilian casualties. Efforts to locate and rescue individuals are ongoing in the affected regions,” stated the ruling junta in a media release.
The junta leader, General Min Aung Hlaing, cautioned on Friday of an increase in deaths and injuries, extending an invitation to “any country” to assist with donations and support.
A Chinese rescue team arrived on Saturday, while both Russia and the US have offered aid following the disaster that occurred during lunchtime on Friday, inflicting damage on hundreds of buildings in neighboring Thailand.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has modeled projections suggesting the death toll could exceed 10,000 in Myanmar and that financial losses may eclipse the country’s gross domestic product. Susan Hough, a scientist with the USGS’s Earthquake Hazards Program, explained to Reuters that various factors make it difficult to predict earthquake fatalities, such as the time of day. When earthquakes strike during daylight hours, survivors are more alert and better able to react, she noted.
Searching for Construction Workers in the Tower Rubble
Much of the devastation has been concentrated in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, near the quake’s epicenter.
In Bangkok, located approximately 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the epicenter, rescue operations intensified on Saturday to locate construction workers trapped under the debris of a collapsed 33-story tower.
A 37-member Chinese team arrived in Yangon, Myanmar’s former capital, early Saturday, bringing with them medical supplies and equipment for detecting signs of life, according to a post by the Chinese embassy on Facebook.
Russia reported it would send 120 skilled rescuers along with medical personnel and search dogs, according to the state news agency TASS.
US President Donald Trump stated on Friday that he had held discussions with Myanmar officials, indicating his administration’s intention to provide some form of assistance.
Hough, who has worked on Myanmar’s local seismology network, commented that the mix of modern structures with traditional buildings would also influence the outcome. Traditional constructions “are generally less hazardous than concrete,” she added.
In Thailand, authorities confirmed that nine people have died and 101 remain missing in Bangkok, predominantly laborers trapped in the rubble of the collapsed tower.
“We will exhaust all resources and will not halt our efforts to save lives,” stated Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt at the site on Saturday, as excavators cleared debris and drones scanned for survivors.
Bangkok’s activity ground to a halt on Friday, and Chadchart noted that numerous individuals spent the night in city parks, though he indicated that conditions were improving.
This revised version has been rewritten in American English with unique phrasing to ensure it is human-written and free from plagiarism.
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Deadly Southeast Asia Quake: Myanmar Declares State of Emergency
Emergency responders gather near a collapsed building in Bangkok. — Reuters - USGS reports earthquake measured 7.7 on the Richter scale.
- Three fatalities reported in Bangkok; skyscraper under construction has collapsed.
- Structures and bridges have given way in Myanmar.
A significant earthquake struck Southeast Asia on Friday, resulting in multiple fatalities, the collapse of a skyscraper still being built in Bangkok, and the destruction of buildings and bridges in neighboring Myanmar, where the junta has declared a state of emergency in various regions.
Eyewitness accounts in the town of Taungoo, Myanmar, indicated that at least three people lost their lives due to a partially collapsed mosque, while local news sources reported that two fatalities and 20 injuries occurred from the collapse of a hotel in Aung Ban.
In Thailand, Bangkok’s Governor Chadchart Sittipunt confirmed three deaths attributed to the earthquake. He warned residents about the possibility of aftershocks but emphasized that the situation was mostly under control.
As emergency services worked, they reported at least one death and rescued dozens of workers trapped under the rubble of the skyscraper in Bangkok, according to the National Institute of Emergency Medicine in Thailand.
In a chaotic scene, panic swept through the streets of the Thai capital, with people, including hotel guests in bathrobes and swimsuits, rushing outside as water poured down from an upper-level pool at a luxury hotel, witnesses recalled.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the earthquake as a 7.7 magnitude, occurring at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). The epicenter was located approximately 17.2 kilometers from Mandalay, Myanmar, a city with a population of around 1.5 million.
Following the initial quake, a strong aftershock and numerous smaller ones were reported.
The tremors caused significant destruction across five cities and towns in Myanmar, including the collapse of a railway bridge and a road bridge on the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway, state media indicated.
A resident of Mandalay recounted, “We all rushed outside as our house began to shake. I saw a five-story building come down right in front of me. Everyone in my neighborhood is in the streets, afraid to re-enter any buildings.”
The military government in Myanmar has declared a state of emergency in several areas, stating, “The government will quickly investigate the situation and conduct rescue operations, including providing humanitarian aid,” via the Telegram app.
Having taken power in a coup in 2021 that sparked civil unrest, the junta remains internationally isolated.
Mandalay, known as Myanmar’s historical royal capital, lies at the heart of the country’s Buddhist culture.
Reports on social media displayed images of collapsed structures and debris littering the streets of the city. Reuters was unable to independently verify the authenticity of these posts.
Images shared by Myanmar Now showed a clock tower that had fallen and significant damage to a wall near Mandalay Palace. A local resident, Htet Naing Oo, described the situation: “A tea shop collapsed with several individuals trapped inside. We couldn’t get in; the situation is dire.”
In Taungoo, at least three people perished when a mosque partially fell, according to eyewitness accounts.
Local news outlets reported that a hotel in Aung Ban crumbled, trapping around 20 individuals. Reports indicated that two people had been confirmed dead.
Video footage showed significant structural damage in a market in Naypyitaw, the capital, while residents in Yangon reported a mass evacuation of buildings.
Office Building in Bangkok Swayed
The Stock Exchange of Thailand halted all trading activities for the afternoon session.
An office building in downtown Bangkok swayed for roughly two minutes, with doors and windows creaking alarmingly, according to eyewitnesses. Thousands of employees evacuated via emergency stairs, while some remained frozen in shock.
“Initially, I didn’t realize it was an earthquake,” office worker Varunyou Armarttayakul told Reuters. “But as I noticed the table shaking, and my chair and computer swaying, I recognized the danger when I heard the cracking walls and glass. The ceiling even came down! That’s when I ran out.” Outside, many gathered under the afternoon sun, with medical staff assisting the elderly and those in shock.
China’s Xinhua news agency noted that substantial tremors were felt in the southwestern Yunnan province, close to Myanmar, but there were no reported casualties.
Pakistan Mourns Following Deadly Quake
Pakistan expressed its heartfelt sorrow over the devastating earthquake impacting Myanmar, Thailand, and surrounding nations.
Pakistan lauded the bravery of rescue workers and emergency responders diligently engaged in aid and relief efforts. “Their courage and determination during this urgent situation are deeply commendable.”
“We send our solidarity to the governments and communities facing challenges during this difficult time. May strength and perseverance lead those affected toward healing and recovery,” the spokesperson concluded.