Emergency response crews were dispatched rapidly after several explosions were heard near the Marine Plaza in south Pattaya on Saturday evening, March 10.
Pol. Cap. Kewleesiri Pasukthanapaisarn, deputy chief investigator at Pattaya police headquarters was alerted to the situation before reports were forwarded on to Police Chief Appichai Kroppech, the Fire Department and the PEA.
Ten fire trucks were rushed to the scene where a massive inferno had broken out in a highly populated area, close to the tourist hotspot of Walking Street. The flames spread rapidly and caught onto several bars behind the Marine Plaza, causing massive damage to interiors, furniture and even motorbikes parked in the area. Tourists and bar workers were seen to panic and run for their lives and it took about 30 minutes until authorities gained control of the blaze.
There were no reports of any serious casualties but one person suffered minor injuries and smoke inhalation. Two beer bars were completely engulfed during the blaze, a building across the street sustained major damage and a total of 17 motorbikes were destroyed.
Sakrin Kaokokruad, 28, a staff member at the Titanic Bar told authorities he heard several loud bangs, which later turned out to be the faulty electricity transformer that had exploded, and before he knew it everything around him was on fire. He called the police immediately and evacuated customers out of the bar. Some staff stayed behind to try and put the fire out with extinguishers before the fire fighters arrived but they were unsuccessful. The damage caused by the fire was estimated at around 6-7 million baht.
Prit Chancharoen, a representative from the PEA, stated that electricians had been in the area on Friday (March 9) to replace the transformer, as the original one was damaged but he was uncertain as to why the new unit had exploded. A full forensic investigation will be launched as soon as possible and electricity to nearby bars and businesses will be offline for the time being.
