Chinese tourists flee Pattaya pool villa blaze

Chinese tourists fled from a terrible blaze at a Pattaya pool villa last night. The fire gutted a room on the second floor of the villa, on Soi Sukhumvit 4 in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district.

Five to six Chinese tourists had been staying at the villa when the blaze wreaked havoc, The Pattaya News reported. Fortunately, the tourists were able to escape unscathed before rescue services arrived.

Firefighters and rescuers rushed to the scene and put out the blaze within minutes. However, the damage to the villa was substantial.

The identities of the tourists were not reported, and they suffered no injuries. As of press time, the cause of the fire was still being investigated.

This news comes just days after a fire gutted another Pattaya villa on Sunday. The blaze gutted a Canadian man’s 20 million baht luxury villa in Phu Thara village, also located in the Bang Lamung district.

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.

Only days before that, yet another fire broke out at a condominium in Pattaya, also in the Bang Lamung district. The raging fire sent over 200 residents of the Amazon Residence Condominium evacuating, and at least five people were injured. Four people suffered smoke inhalation, and one foreign man suffered 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.

Last year, a total of 131 major fires were reported in Bangkok between January and May. The statistics show there were 27 fires in February, 13 in March, 32 in April and 20 in May 2022.

Bang Khun Thian district recorded the highest number of fires during that period, with nine, followed by seven each in Bang Kapi and Prawet, six each in Bang Khae and Ratchathewi, five in Nong Chok, and four each in Bang Kho Laem, Min Buri, Lat Phrao, Wang Thong Lang, Wattana, Saphan Soong and Huai Khwang.