BANGKOK — A massive fire swept through the Khlong Thom Centre on Worachak Road in central Bangkok on Friday night, August 28, 2026, causing structural collapses, injuring 11 people, and destroying roughly 300 retail stalls.

The fire started around 8:40 PM on the first floor of the shopping market, a popular place for buying electronics, car parts, and tools. Packed items like batteries, wires, and plastics caught fire quickly, creating thick, dangerous smoke that spread across the city.

Emergency services dispatched dozens of fire engines to the scene. While no civilian fatalities were reported and no individuals were trapped inside, 11 people sustained injuries.

Among the injured were nine volunteer firefighters. One firefighter suffered severe smoke inhalation and remains hospitalized in critical condition.

Extreme heat caused the multi-story steel building's roof and inner frame to bend, give way, and fall inward. Because the building was falling apart, firefighters had to pull back and fight the massive fire from the outside to stay safe.

Firefighters brought the primary flames under control early Saturday morning. However, emergency personnel spent much of Saturday spraying cooling water over smoldering hotspots trapped beneath fallen metal debris.

Preliminary Investigations suggest the fire started in a ground-floor shop, possibly caused by stored batteries. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt visited the site and said that while the main power is usually turned off after 8:00 PM, fire investigators are looking into why the building's safety systems failed to put out the initial flames.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) cordoned off the complex as an unstable danger zone, prohibiting vendors from entering. Relief centers have been set up nearby to assist more than 100 business operators affected by the disaster.