Woman reported missing after Phuket SuperCheap fire found safe
Naraporn Tuarob

PHUKET: -- Angkana Namrob, believed to be missing after the SuperCheap fire on Wednesday evening, has contacted her family, an official told The Phuket News.

Ms Angkana was reported missing on Thursday morning, when relatives and friends could not find her.

Today an official told The Phuket News that Ms Angkana had contacted her family.

Rescue teams continued to search today inside the ruins of the warehouse store, but still no bodies have been found.

Heavy rain overnight might have brought some relief to the firefighters working on putting out smoldering embers, but a lot of the site is covered by iron roofing, and the hot embers are underneath lots of debris.

The store, located on around 30 rai of land, caught fire in spectacular fashion on Wednesday night (October 16) around 9.40pm, engulfing the entire store in around 10 minutes. So far there have been no confirmed reports of any injured or dead, despite initial concerns from the public that people were trapped inside.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/woman-reported-missing-after-supercheap-fire-found-safe-42432.php


-- Phuket News 2013-10-19

Safety net for Phuket SuperCheap staff after blaze
Phuket Gazette -

PHUKET: Employees of the razed SuperCheap store may continue working or resign and receive unemployment compensation, it was announced in Phuket on Thursday.

The 3,436 employees, 700 of whom are foreign workers, will be sent to other branches to work, said SuperCheap Owner Boonsom Anantajaroonwong.

“We continue to pay about a total of a million baht a day to staff who lost their jobs,” he said.

“They will be sent to work at one of our 45 SuperCheap branches. We are now working on matching staff to stores,” he said.

Staff who choose to resign are eligible for unemployment compensation of 50 per cent of their salary for 180 days after they quit, or until they find a new job, said Phuket Provincial Employment Office chief Yaowapa Pibulpol.

Ms Yaowapa was optimistic that SuperCheap staff could find new jobs if they so desired.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/Safety-net-for-Phuket-SuperCheap-staff-after-blaze-22556.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2013-10-20