Thai Singer Hai Apapon Shaken by Nightclub Fire

Thai country singer Hai Apapon from Nakhon Sawan gave an interview after attending a blessing ceremony for the series "Mon Ruk Huk E-Lee" on July 13, 2025, at the rooftop of the sixth floor of the PHENIX Pratunam project. She responded to the shocking nightclub fire that occurred the previous night, revealing that the venue had previously contacted her to perform and was scheduled to transfer a deposit, but the tragedy occurred before the arrangement could be finalized. She emphasized that going forward, her team will survey fire exits and safety measures at every venue before she performs, and urged business owners to prioritize customer safety above everything else.

Meanwhile, Hai Apapon also shared a surprising story about being contacted by an unknown man who asked to buy undergarments from her for his collection, prompting her to block him immediately.

When asked about her level of concern as a performer who must work in such venues, she responded: "I'm really heartbroken. First, I want to express my condolences to the families of those who died, and send strength to the dozens of red and yellow case patients. I never wanted this to happen. When I saw the news, I thought about myself—I have so many nightclub gigs now. In the past, we may have overlooked checking where the fire exits are. When something happens, I think about it too. Sometimes there's a fifth floor, you go in and there's just a small opening, and people get crammed in like that. I ask myself: if a fire broke out, I definitely wouldn't survive. From now on, I need someone to check these things—if an incident like this happens, people can escape on their own, and they should tell me which way to go. We need people to survey beforehand so everyone can get out alive. I don't want this kind of thing to happen, but who could have predicted how last night went? And I heard it wasn't from a gas explosion—it was from a sound system exploding. Normally at every venue the sound system isn't great anyway, there's always that crackling noise. We have the feeling the sound equipment will fail. It's old."

When asked if this venue had indeed previously contacted her for a booking, she said: "Yes, they contacted me. They were going to transfer the deposit on July 16, and my slot was supposed to be September 24 if I remember correctly, but it didn't happen. I consider that lucky. Every nightclub I go to is actually quite dangerous in terms of exits—they're quite difficult to navigate because the owners are worried that customers will sneak out without paying, so they make the entrances small to cram people in. Only two people can fit through at a time, not three, because it's so narrow. If an incident like this happens, it becomes very hard to get out."

When asked her view on why some business owners still operate this way, noting that some have argued owners could simply charge upfront instead of collecting payment later, she replied: "That's true, but there are pre-orders and orders placed without immediate payment. Both happen. But actually, that's a really good idea. Once ordered, they could just hand it over right then and there or whatever, because then customers would be safe too. I'm concerned about both the business owners and the customers."

When asked if she had experienced anything like this in her life before, she said: "An incident like this? But I've always been worried about this because I never thought that at over 50 years old I'd end up working in nightclubs. Most of my career I've done outdoor concert tours, temple events, ordination ceremonies, wedding receptions, new house ceremonies, hair-shaving ceremonies, things like that. Nightclub work was quite rare. But after coming back, it turned out I had to go work with my band in nightclubs."