The old Grand Tropicana opposite OTOP is on fire although looks like it's just about contained now. That will put back the opening date a wee bit!

Traffic is solid from end of Bangla road to OTOP.

A lot of smoke for a time but with everything made of brick and concrete, how long could that last?

It was a pretty impressive blaze but was confined to a vertical wooden tower on the corner of the building - BAU tomorrow I suspect.

At Phuketwan I took the trouble to call the resort's general manager and she said that it was a spectacular fire, but caused no real damage. You'd never know that from the way the blaze is presented in other media. Great photo, shame about the story.

Maybe it all started with a barbeque that got out of hand.

One thing I have noticed about Thailand is the locals like to make fires given any opportunity.

9 times out of 10 they only burn leaves and dead grass. Makes all the cloths stink on the washing line.

My wife moans all the time about it , and she is Thai.

From the Phuket Gazette:

Marriott’s Courtyard ablaze

PATONG: Crowds gathered on Ruamjai Rd this afternoon as flames engulfed the corner section of The Courtyard hotel, formerly known as the Grand Tropicana Phuket and now owned by Marriott.

“The fire started about 2 pm and took firefighters about 30 minutes to put out,” Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnak told the Gazette.

“We believe that a spark from workers carrying out construction might have ignited insulation and started the fire,” he said.

“We have no more information at this time. We are still investigating the cause of the fire. It is too early to put a value on the extent of the damage,” Col Grissak added.

The Phuket Grand Tropicana hotel made headlines in February last year after several guests contracted legionnaires’ disease, which was found in the hotel’s cooling system.

More bad luck for the location and building.

In all those years nobody was really successful in making an business in that building.

I believe i saw until now 4 different hotel openings in this building and all of them closed within a few years.

According my Thai wife the building will never be successful as it is not build according the Chinese believe of harmony.

I don't believe not very much in this kind of believing but she is correct as she says that nobody is really successful.

This is the same for the bar on the top of Soi bangla ( rat-U-thit side ) which is again sold and rebuild.

According the Chinese way an building can't stand on top of an soi without creating problem for the owners.

More bad luck for the location and building.

In all those years nobody was really successful in making an business in that building.

I believe i saw until now 4 different hotel openings in this building and all of them closed within a few years.

According my Thai wife the building will never be successful as it is not build according the Chinese believe of harmony.

I don't believe not very much in this kind of believing but she is correct as she says that nobody is really successful.

This is the same for the bar on the top of Soi bangla ( rat-U-thit side ) which is again sold and rebuild.

According the Chinese way an building can't stand on top of an soi without creating problem for the owners.

Why dont you contact Marriott and tell them, see what they say.

They will probably laugh at you !

It was well alight for about 30 minutes but luckily there's no furnishings in it yet...whatever was burning certainly wasn't fire resistant though!!

More bad luck for the location and building.

In all those years nobody was really successful in making an business in that building.

I believe i saw until now 4 different hotel openings in this building and all of them closed within a few years.

According my Thai wife the building will never be successful as it is not build according the Chinese believe of harmony.

I don't believe not very much in this kind of believing but she is correct as she says that nobody is really successful.

This is the same for the bar on the top of Soi bangla ( rat-U-thit side ) which is again sold and rebuild.

According the Chinese way an building can't stand on top of an soi without creating problem for the owners.

Why dont you contact Marriott and tell them, see what they say.

They will probably laugh at you !

The may laugh at you.. But that still doesnt stop large parts of Asia believing in this.. Tam Sang Pang which is as far as I can tell either similar or the same as Feng Shui is well known. My GF swears blind that this is why VIP asia (soon to be Rock City 2) and every other business in that location has failed. Her description is a business opposite the leaving individual road on a 3 way intersection will always have money flowing out of its door.

heavy black smoke = plastic, so I guess the report about insulation catching fire is accurate as its mostly foam. Must have done a number on people's lungs that were in close proximity.

According the Chinese way an building can't stand on top of an soi without creating problem for the owners.

Don't worry, as long as it is sold with a profit, or could be written off to lower taxes...and Feng Shui has an Answer for everything!

And believe me, the management/marktingstrategists will go for anything, maybe its just a very unfavorable location!

More bad luck for the location and building.

In all those years nobody was really successful in making an business in that building.

I believe i saw until now 4 different hotel openings in this building and all of them closed within a few years.

According my Thai wife the building will never be successful as it is not build according the Chinese believe of harmony.

I don't believe not very much in this kind of believing but she is correct as she says that nobody is really successful.

This is the same for the bar on the top of Soi bangla ( rat-U-thit side ) which is again sold and rebuild.

According the Chinese way an building can't stand on top of an soi without creating problem for the owners.

Why dont you contact Marriott and tell them, see what they say.

They will probably laugh at you !

The may laugh at you.. But that still doesnt stop large parts of Asia believing in this.. Tam Sang Pang which is as far as I can tell either similar or the same as Feng Shui is well known. My GF swears blind that this is why VIP asia (soon to be Rock City 2) and every other business in that location has failed. Her description is a business opposite the leaving individual road on a 3 way intersection will always have money flowing out of its door.

livinLOS,

That’s indeed the building which i was talking about ( VIP ASIA ) many Thai's believe that you can't do good business if your building is not build or protected according the Feng Shui believe.

If you believe it or not doesn’t matter the fact is that on both places many investors lost an lot of money.

The previous hotels ( before Marriott ) where also big hotel chains and they also couldn't make an profit on that location.

Or they where closing there doors within a few years for fun. .

More bad luck for the location and building.

In all those years nobody was really successful in making an business in that building.

I believe i saw until now 4 different hotel openings in this building and all of them closed within a few years.

According my Thai wife the building will never be successful as it is not build according the Chinese believe of harmony.

I don't believe not very much in this kind of believing but she is correct as she says that nobody is really successful.

This is the same for the bar on the top of Soi bangla ( rat-U-thit side ) which is again sold and rebuild.

According the Chinese way an building can't stand on top of an soi without creating problem for the owners.

Why dont you contact Marriott and tell them, see what they say.

They will probably laugh at you !

The may laugh at you.. But that still doesnt stop large parts of Asia believing in this.. Tam Sang Pang which is as far as I can tell either similar or the same as Feng Shui is well known. My GF swears blind that this is why VIP asia (soon to be Rock City 2) and every other business in that location has failed. Her description is a business opposite the leaving individual road on a 3 way intersection will always have money flowing out of its door.

livinLOS,

That’s indeed the building which i was talking about ( VIP ASIA ) many Thai's believe that you can't do good business if your building is not build or protected according the Feng Shui believe.

If you believe it or not doesn’t matter the fact is that on both places many investors lost an lot of money.

The previous hotels ( before Marriott ) where also big hotel chains and they also couldn't make an profit on that location.

Or they where closing there doors within a few years for fun. .

The Grand Tropicana and the Golden Land Plaza Hotel (the 2 previous owners before Marriott's) were NOT part of a hotel chain.

The old Grand Tropicana opposite OTOP is on fire although looks like it's just about contained now. That will put back the opening date a wee bit!

Traffic is solid from end of Bangla road to OTOP.

Too bad it didn't burn to the ground, that building is a dump.

Hmmmmmmm..........gets me thinking conspiracy.............maybe Marriott should have handed out Black Label at the Fire department a couple of hours before.