A fire destroyed around 200 impounded vehicles in the Mae Sot customs compound late Tuesday evening. The fire broke out at approximately 7:30 p.m. at the newly constructed customs facility in tambon Tha Sai Luat, where around 800 vehicles were parked, reports Bangkok Post.
Around 20 fire engines responded to the scene, and it took firefighters three hours to control the blaze. Thankfully, no injuries were reported, and police are currently investigating the cause of the fire.
Phantong Loykulnanta, a spokesperson for the Customs Department, stated that this was the first time such a large-scale fire occurred in the impounded vehicle compound.
The destroyed vehicles were older, unusable models from legal cases that had either been resolved or were still pending. There were no luxury vehicles involved in the incident.
According to a Mae Sot customs official, the vehicles were originally imported from Japan and were bound for Myanmar. However, due to the ongoing conflict in Myanmar, they had been stranded at the border for several years. This led customs officials to impound the vehicles as required by law. Attempts to auction them were unsuccessful because the reserve price was set too high, the official added.
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
