A FIRE destroyed or damaged more than 20 shops along the beach road in Patong early on Wednesday morning, with the cost of repairs estimated at 30 million baht.
It was the fourth large fire in the same area of Taweewong Road this year, prompting police to revise their view about the likely cause of all the blazes.
Police had previously attributed earlier blazes to electrical faults but now are concerned that an arsonist might be responsible.
Chief of Kathu Police, Kiksak Songmoonang, said: ''We need to find out what caused these fires. If they keep happening, it's not good for tourism.''
The blaze on May 14 was spotted at 3am and took an hour to control. The fire destroyed shops near the Tara Hotel, opposite the Impiana Phuket Cabana Resort.
On Thursday morning, owners and staff of the shops were looking at the wreckage to see what could be salvaged. There was smoke still coming from the smouldering piles of clothing and goods, but little else to see.
Tourists paused to poke cameras between the sheets of green metal protective screening to take photographs.
The previous blaze was on April 30, also early on a Wednesday morning. It caused an estimated 10 million baht in damage.
Police are now considering the possibility of some kind of insurance scam and are awaiting the results of a close examination of the fire scene.
It was the fourth large fire in the same area of Taweewong Road this year, prompting police to revise their view about the likely cause of all the blazes.
Police had previously attributed earlier blazes to electrical faults but now are concerned that an arsonist might be responsible.
Chief of Kathu Police, Kiksak Songmoonang, said: ''We need to find out what caused these fires. If they keep happening, it's not good for tourism.''
The blaze on May 14 was spotted at 3am and took an hour to control. The fire destroyed shops near the Tara Hotel, opposite the Impiana Phuket Cabana Resort.
On Thursday morning, owners and staff of the shops were looking at the wreckage to see what could be salvaged. There was smoke still coming from the smouldering piles of clothing and goods, but little else to see.
Tourists paused to poke cameras between the sheets of green metal protective screening to take photographs.
The previous blaze was on April 30, also early on a Wednesday morning. It caused an estimated 10 million baht in damage.
Police are now considering the possibility of some kind of insurance scam and are awaiting the results of a close examination of the fire scene.
