More than 300 used cars impounded at a bonded warehouse lot of the customs office in Mae Sot district, Tak province, were damaged in a fire Tuesday night.
The blaze occurred at about 7pm and quickly engulfed more than 300 of the 1,000 vehicles being stored at the facility. They were tightly packed in an out-door parking lot behind the new customs office, which is under construction, near the Second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge. Several explosions were heard during the conflagration.
Fire trucks from several municipalities and the Ratchamanu Task Force rushed to the scene and it took about two hours to control the fire. The cause of the blaze is to be investigated today by a team of forensics officers from Tak province.
According to a customs official, all the cars had been imported from Japan for re-export to Myanmar. Due to fighting between government and rebel groups in Myanmar, though, the car importer was unable to re-export the vehicles, so they had been kept in a bonded warehouse for several years.
The official also said that the Mae Sot customs office had tried to auction off some of the cars, but no one was interested in buying them due to the high prices being asked.
