Fire Destroys Phuket's Koh Kaew Market

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Fire destroys Phuket's Koh Kaew Market

The blaze ripped through the market in about two hours.

Vendors on the street in front of the market trying to salvage

what goods they could.

PHUKET: -- A large fire ripped through an undercover clothes market of more than 200 stalls in the heart of Patong, on Phuket’s west coast, early this morning.

The fire broke out at the Koh Kaew Market, next to the Jungceylon shopping complex on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Road, at about 3am.

Six fire trucks and more than 20 firefighters arrived to extinguish the blaze, taking more than two hours to bring it under control.

An officer from the Patong Municipality office told the Phuket Gazette that no one had been injured in the blaze.

“I’m not sure what happened as the place was already on fire when I arrived,” market vendor Wilasinee Wiwatthanit, 23, told said.

“The fire burnt through the whole market in about two hours. It seems that it started at the back of the place,” she added.

Ms Wilasinee said the shop owners did not have any insurance coverage as policies were not offered for indoor markets like the Koh Kaew Market.

Fire investigators this morning are still inspecting the rubble to determine the cause of the blaze.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/_n10864

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-08-24

[robertsonmartin]

Happened many times before in Patong. Normally something to do with dodgy electrics or sabotage.

[steelepulse]

I know if I was going to open a shop, insurance would be a priority. In this case if you can't get any insurance, I wouldn't open in this location.

[katabeachbum]

was in the big market in town Saturday night, GF shopping and I searching a beer and some snacks. Watching all the open fire BBQs 6 feet under a plastic/pvc roof I was thinking about fire security. and no waterhoses to be seen. enjoyed my beer and snack outside the market

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Market fire leaves Phuket vendors broke

Vendors make their way through the scorched remains of the market.

Photo: Atchaa Khamlo

PHUKET Market vendors whose shops were destroyed by fire on Wednesday are seeking government assistance in restarting their businesses.

Tossapol Rungruengpawan, president of Patong Retail Business Club, told the Phuket Gazette that the fire caused an estimated 50 million baht in total damage.

Most of the vendors did not have insurance as most insurance companies do not offer policies for such indoor markets, one vendor said.

“There were 116 stalls run by more than 80 vendors at the market. Most of the shops were run by Thais, along with some people originally from Nepal and Vietnam,” said Mr Tossapol.

“I will discuss with Patong Mayor Pian Keesin how we can help the vendors as they are now broke,” he added.

Despite heavy downpours that night, the fire ripped through the Koh Kaew Market, located beside the Jungceylon shopping complex in Patong, on Phuket’s west coast.

Yanma La, a 39-year-old ethnic Nepalese, said the fire cost him his entire income.

“I’m broke now as the fire destroyed my shops, costing me more than four million baht altogether,” he said.

Mr La, who has lived in Phuket for more than 20 years and is married to a Thai, operated three clothes shops in the market over the past two years.

“Most shops had just ordered new stock in preparation for the high season. I had just received stock valued at over one million baht. I don’t know what I am going to do now,” said Mr Yanma

One woman who ran four clothes shops in the market for more than two years said that her shops generated more than 100,000 baht a day income in the high season.

Mr La and several other vendors expressed doubt over whether a short circuit started the fire, as has been suggested.

“I’m not sure an electrical short started the fire. It spread so quickly and it started at the back of the market, where there is no electricity,” Mr La said.

Mr Tossapol suggested the fire might have been deliberately set in an attempt to get the market vendors to move.

“The market has been there for about six years and it is on the same plot of land as Jungceylon shopping mall. We have been managing the market by ourselves and every month people come and collect rent for the ‘landlord’.

“However, we have never been able to track down who the actual landowner is. The original owner of the plot where the Koh Kaew Market is died more than 10 years ago,” he said.

“Usually when markets are burned, they are being turned into something else, such as hotels,” he said.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2011/article10879.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-08-26