Bangkok wet market reopens after fire

Most of the Ying Charoen market in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district has been reopened after fire destroyed about 160 stalls. No-one was injured.

The blaze in the 30-rai compound reportedly started at a bakery at about 3am on Thursday and quickly spread to nearby stalls. Fire fighters took about two hours to control the flames.

Officials said about 200 vendors were affected. They were allowed to sell their wares in market’s car park for the time being.

About 10% of the market structure was damaged and remained cordoned off as 70% of stalls reopened. There were about 1,500 stalls trading at the six-decade-old market.

One of the structures damaged was a gold shop, whose owner estimated damage would exceed 1 million baht.