BMA tightens venue safety enforcement with nightly district checks
District directors have been told to inspect venues in person every night and order immediate closures where safety risks are found.
- Following a deadly fire at a Bangkok restaurant, the BMA has mandated that district directors conduct in-person safety inspections of venues every night.
- This new policy of continuous, nightly checks replaces the previous system of scheduled inspections, which were found to be ineffective.
- Officials are now instructed to order the immediate closure of any venue found with safety violations until improvements are made.
- The BMA will also support the new enforcement by expanding its inspection checklist and issuing a guidance manual for district officials.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt chaired the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s (BMA) seventh executive meeting, attended by four deputy governors, Wisanu Subsompon, Tavida Kamolvej, Sanon Wangsrangboon and Pornphrom Vikitsreth, BMA Permanent Secretary Narong Ruengsri, other executives, heads of departments, directors of all 50 district offices and relevant officials.
The meeting was held at Bangkok City Hall 2 in Din Daeng on Tuesday (July 14, 2026).
Before the meeting began, all participants observed a one-minute silence in mourning for Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendiradebyavati Kromluangrajasarinisiribajra Mahavajrarajadhita.
Chadchart also informed the meeting of the fire tragedy at the “Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao” restaurant in Bangkok, which had left 28 people dead.
He invited all attendees to stand in silence to express their condolences and remember those who lost their lives.
The governor said that although a fact-finding committee had already been appointed to investigate the fire at Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao, every district director must conduct rigorous inspections in their own area.
He stressed that even where some establishments were not directly registered as entertainment venues under the law, officials must exercise judgment and discretion with strict regard to safety.
Inspections had previously tended to follow scheduled cycles, such as during festival periods in April and December.
Everything usually appeared to be in order when officials visited, but once venues opened, items or sales tables were sometimes placed in walkways.
The BMA therefore needed to shift to continuous inspections.
Chadchart also instructed district directors to act decisively.
If safety problems were found, they were to order venues to close immediately for improvements to prevent danger.
The BMA would also expand its inspection checklist to cover more areas and issue a guidance manual for district directors to use when examining establishments in detail.
For now, he asked district directors to inspect venues in person each night to observe how they actually operated.
If a safety risk was found, they were to order the venue to suspend operations immediately so improvements could be made.
As the issue was drawing considerable public attention, he urged district directors to work to the fullest of their ability and proceed carefully and thoroughly.
