Canadian man’s luxury Pattaya villa gutted by fire

A fire gutted a Canadian man’s 20 million baht luxury villa in Pattaya, eastern Thailand, yesterday.

Officers at Nong Prue Police Station were notified of a raging fire at a pool villa in Phu Thara village in Pattaya’s Bang Lamung district yesterday afternoon.

Nong Prue Municipality firefighters deployed three fire engines and quickly got the flames under control.

The fire started on the ground floor and spread through the entire property, damaging every room, until only the carcass of the luxury villa remained, said Nong Prue Municipality firefighter Siriwat Prachit.

A 58 year old Canadian national [name withheld], the owner of the luxury property, escaped from the flames unhurt. He had no time to save any of his belongings, running outside in nothing but his underwear.

The homeowner said he was shocked when he saw flames swiftly spreading through his house so he escaped and called the authorities straight away. He said he has no idea what caused the fire.

Firefighter Siriwat said the fire was Level 3 and was possibly caused by a short circuit, but the true cause is still unknown.

The firefighter said the fire spread quickly and it took about 40 minutes in total to fully control the fire and extinguish the flames.

The owner of the house did not report anything unusual so the cause of the fire is still a mystery, added the firefighter. The total damages of the fire have not yet been calculated.

A few days ago, 200 residents evacuated when a fire broke out at a condominium in Pattaya. At least five people were injured. Four people suffered smoke inhalation and one foreign man sustained burns and a head injury.

The most common cause of household fires in Thailand is electrical malfunctions, followed by arson and cooking accidents, according to the Thai Fire and Rescue Department.