Thailand: Foreign tourists moved to safety as forest fire breaks out in Phuket’s Rawai area
Sunday, 06 Feb 2022
BANGKOK, Feb 6 (The Nation Thailand/ANN): Tourists were evacuated when a forest fire broke out on Laem Krating Cape in Phuket’s Rawai subdistrict on Saturday night (Feb 5).
The blaze, which had spread quickly by 8pm, could not be tackled immediately because the area was unreachable. The fire covered two rai of a steep hill and flames were first spotted at around 4pm.
The site was about 1.5 kilometres from Laem Krating Resort.
Phuket governor Narong Woonciew and related agencies showed up at the scene at about 8.30pm, by which time Rawai Municipality officials and forest rangers had been able to suppress the fire.
They were reportedly at the scene keeping an eye on the situation until Sunday night (Feb 6).
As of 9pm on Sunday (Feb 6), no casualties were reported.
In another development, a citywide crackdown on illegal dumping in Bangkok netted two more culprits on Thursday as police pounced in Lat Krabang district.
Lat Krabang is among two-dozen hotspots for dumping in Bangkok that authorities have identified since launching their operation earlier this year.
On Thursday, police arrested Sawai (last name withheld), 49, on suspicion of serial dumping at a 7-rai plot on Soi Patthana Chonabot 3. Waste and construction rubble was already piled on 4 rai of the plot.
Police said Sawai confessed to illegally dumping waste on private land for the past two years, saying she received 40 to 300 baht per load. She was paid more for dumping non-recyclable waste than recyclables.
She added that she had switched to the Lat Krabang site three days ago after being caught dumping elsewhere. Police said she had been caught fly-tipping twice before in Saphan Sung district, on November 2, 2021 and on January 24 this year.
Police arrested the second suspect, named as Tawee (last name withheld), 41, at Soi Wang Phun Sin.- The Nation Thailand/ANN