More than 10 trawlers, moored at a pier in Khanom district of Nakhon Si Thammarat province, caught fire at about midnight last night.
Several fire trucks, firefighting boats and emergency volunteers rushed to the pier, which is located on the bank of the Khanom Canal in Khanom sub-district, to try to contain the blaze.
Many fishing vessels were moored side by side at the pier, enabling the fire to spread quickly from vessel to vessel. Crew members and volunteers tried desperately to free several vessels from the pier to save them from the inferno.
Police say that several of the fishing boats are trawlers, which had been modified from ‘pair trawlers’, two vessels which work in tandem to tow a single, large mid-water or bottom trawl net, after fishing laws were amended to impose tighter controls on pair trawling.
Many of the damaged vessels belong to the family of former Democrat party election candidate Charnwattana Isarawattana and the damage is initially estimated at over 100 million baht.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
