A million in fire damages at Marriott

A fire that engulfed the Marriott Patong Hotel on the island of Phuket in southern Thailand a few days ago is said to have caused upwards of 1 million baht in damages. Police Colonel Sopol Barirak, an inspector at Kathu Police Station told reporters that as soon as the fire fighters heard the news they raced to number 47 Ruamjaipatana Road in Patong to find the hotel in flames. The cause is suspected to have been a notice board catching fire with sparks from a welder working nearby.

It took about twenty minutes for fire fighters to bring the flames under control at the hotel, which was still undergoing construction. The contract manager of the building explains that “while our staff was fitting the iron, something went wrong with the electric current, and so a flame suddenly shot up and burned the hotel board. The prevalent windy and hot conditions helped the fire to spread quickly.�

Police have requested that the construction manager and staff members appear at the Kathu Police Station for further questioning.