Tour boat ablaze in central Thailand

A tour boat, which was a modified cargo barge made of teak wood, caught fire while docked at a pier in the main city district of Thailand’s central Ayutthaya province early this morning. Fortunately, no casualties were reported, Bangkok Post reported.

The incident occurred around 1am at a boat pier near Wat Phanan Choeng in tambon Khlong Suan Phlu. Upon receiving the report, police dispatched fire trucks and a rescue unit to the scene.

By the time they arrived, the boat was already engulfed in flames. The fire had burnt through the rope used to secure the boat to the pier, causing it to drift into the middle of the Chao Phraya River.

The burning boat was towed to the riverbank, where the fire was eventually extinguished. An investigation is currently underway to determine the cause of the blaze, and the extent of the damage is being assessed.

As the boat was not in use and merely moored at the pier, no injuries were reported.

This year and last year, there have been a few boat fires in Thailand.

On February 21, a blaze damaged three electric tour boats in Thailand‘s central Samut Prakan province. The boats were recharging at a pier on the Chao Phraya River in the Phra Pradaeng district.

On the night of February 4, a speedboat engulfed in flames sank off Thailand’s island of Koh Samui. According to the Thailand Maritime Enforcement Command Centre (Thai-MECC), the boat caught fire near the Bang Rak boat pier in tambon Bo Phut of Koh Samui district. Thankfully, no one was hurt in the incident.

On December 11 last year, a tour boat moored at a pier in Phuket caught fire causing damages but no injuries or deaths. Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew reported that no one was on board the ship at the time of the fire, so there were no injuries or fatalities, but the boat did sustain damages.