Victims of this week’s flash fire at a Bangkok music bar that took more than 30 lives included four of the six core members of the band playing when the blaze broke out.
The fate of the Totsakan band has been a key focus in Thailand's coverage of the blaze, and as residents expressed their sadness, confusion, outrage and demands for compensation on Wednesday, the sister of the group’s late keyboard player struck a particular note of grace.
"If I can be his representative, I think he would say he doesn't want to see everyone sad and cry," said Chanyanuch Pudmon, the sister of keyboard player Preutthipong Pudmon, as she and other family members retrieved his body from Bangkok’s Institute of Forensic Science.
"He would not want everyone to see him as he is now but please remember his smile on stage, playing music that he loves."
The fire that broke out Sunday night killed at least 32 people and left more than 70 injured, 15 of whom are still in critical condition, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
Wiroon Supasingsiripreecha, chief of the forensic institute, told reporters Wednesday that most of the victims died from smoke inhalation while a few died from burn injuries.
What set off the blaze at the Rong Beer Na Ladprao bar in northern Bangkok and why it caused so many casualties is under investigation.
Authorities are looking at whether the venue’s ceiling had especially flammable soundproofing foam, whether its exits were accessible and unlocked and whether the venue was legally registered.
Totsakan was a house band at the bar, and every Sunday they played the kind of good-time roots music that is popular especially in rural areas where traditional beats are played on modern instruments.
The band's members were among the first to spy a spark from a circuit breaker that may have set off the blaze that roared across the ceiling, which experts suspect was covered with highly combustible material.
People rushed for the few and narrow exits in what they said was total darkness.
The chaos was such that even after the blaze was put under control by firefighters and the injured taken to hospitals, it was unclear who had survived and who had perished.
However for the band’s leader and singer, Atipat Wijan - nickname "Ice" - a big blow came right away.
In an interview with Thai TV Channel 3 just hours after the flames were extinguished, he recalled how the band’s bass player called him to tell him that Nahatai Sajjalert, the lead female singer nicknamed "Breeze" - who was also his girlfriend - was undergoing CPR in back of the still-smouldering building.
Ice said he tried helping the EMS team resuscitate her but she could not be revived.
"She wasn't burned at all. Her body was completely intact. She just looked like she was peacefully asleep," he recalled.
Ice said it was originally believed that keyboardist Puttipong - known as "Kwang" - had been found and hospitalised but that was a misunderstanding.
He never made it out of the bar.
Nattapat Thamnita, or "Biw," the band's drummer, was removed from the bar in critical condition but also did not survive.
Misery extended to Wednesday when the band announced that its other male singer, Thitiwat Kaewkanha, had died in hospital.
He was initially feared dead but had then turned up hospitalised after a day of frantic searching.
According to the Thai Rath newspaper, Thitiwat had burns over 80 per cent of his body.
Other survivors and family members of victims of the fire visited a police station on Wednesday to seek compensation, gather belongings and give their testimony.
A lawyer representing the bar owners told local media that survivors and family members will initially receive 10,000 baht ($A430) in compensation.
