VIDEO: Pattaya restaurant explosion believed to have been caused by gas leak

A huge explosion that gutted three restaurants in Pattaya yesterday is believed to have been caused by a gas leak in a BBQ restaurant called Jar Jar. A 29 year old Laotian worker was seriously injured with burns in the explosion, which occurred in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district. The worker was found buried under the rubble and rushed to a hospital. Pattaya Mayor Poramase Ngampiches investigated the scene of the explosion yesterday, along with Pattaya Police and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit.

Initially, the two gas tanks that were found intact outside the restaurant along with the gas tubes that connected the tanks to the kitchen inside the restaurant would be examined by the EOD unit. So far, the unit has not found any explosive substances inside the restaurant. But Police Chief Kunlachart Kunlachai said a gas leak was believed to have caused the explosion.

The restaurant’s owner, 56 year old Paisan Phongthawornpinyo, said he was shocked by the explosion. He has been running the restaurant for 40 years and claims that he has always checked his gas tanks and found nothing wrong. Some locals told The Pattaya News that some vagabonds with mental illnesses liked to cause problems in the area such as opening lights and gas tanks of the restaurants. But no connections have been found yet between this claim, and the explosion.

Poramese has promised 20 people who reported damages that Pattaya City would cover the costs of the damages. Jar Jar, along with a noodle restaurant and a shrimp paste fried rice restaurant, were completely demolished, according to Kunlachart.

The explosion in Pattaya happened on the same day that another dangerous explosion happened in Thailand, this one in Bangkok. Five people were injured, three seriously, following an explosion at a liquefied petroleum gas plant in the Samut Prakarn province near Bangkok in the early hours of yesterday morning.

One of the big cylinders is believed to have exploded, spreading to others, and started a blaze at the V.I.P Petroleum plant, in the Bang Sao Thong district of Samut Prakarn province.

SOURCE: The Pattaya News | The Pattaya News