A fire erupted on Sunday at the Soneva Kiri, a luxury resort on Kood Island, off the coast of Trat province. The fire broke out at about 6am yesterday morning, where a group of 15 were staying for one night, was razed to the ground.
When fire fighters arrived at the scene, the blaze had already spread through the main building and three adjacent smaller ones. All were built of wood. Fire crews saved a fourth building but the other three were extensively damaged. Damage to the large building was initially estimated to be well over 100 million THB.
The news of the fire was posted on social media by Ramathibodi Hospital paediatrician Dr Jiraporn Arunakul and former actress Thamolpan Panuchitputtiwong who posted dramatic details of the incident describing their narrow escape and alleging that there had been no smoke detection, fire alarms or sprinkler systems in place.
“In just 10 minutes, the villa vanished. It’s really bad. We all survived because of faith, not because of security,” said Thamolpan.
Several serious injuries were reported as the guests scrambled to safety after climbing down from balconies with parts of the structure collapsing.
A statement from the resort describes adherence to the highest of safety precautions, including the presence of smoke detectors in the bedrooms of all villas. The hotel had described itself as a “secluded eco-luxury resort” with advertised prices starting around 48,000 THB a night for two guests.
Pol Colonel Nakrit Jairakrian, Koh Kood Police Station superintendent, said police officers have interrogated people and collected evidence at the site He added that police officers from Central Police Forensic Science Division will join the investigation soon.
