Around 1,000 animals were killed in a fire in Bangkok’s famous open-air Chatuchak market early Tuesday, gutting nearly 100 shops.
Birds, dogs, cats and snakes were burnt to death in their cages in the pet zone, which also included rats, pythons and geckos.
The blaze was started by an electrical short circuit, authorities said, adding that no human casualties or injuries have been reported.
The incident prompted renewed calls for authorities to shut the pet zone, which has long been criticised for the animals’ poor living conditions and has reportedly led to high rates of disease and death.
I absolutely love Chatuchak market, but man that place is a disaster in waiting. It’s a miracle this wasn’t more tragic than it was.
For some reason I specifically remember the abysmal cable management as a highlight of my trip to Thailand
There are some pedestrian bridges in Bangkok where the average person could just reach out and touch the clusterfuck of powerlines if they listened to the call of the void.
Not thailand, but Asia. I couldn’t figure out why our electricity would go out seemingly at random. I eventually found out that two houses had broken into the breaker box on the pole and connected with cable you would use for a lamp. It would thermal all the breakers in that box.
Often there is a local box that then goes to 12-16 houses, there is one main for that. Once run to your house you can do what you want, no one is inspecting you.
The electric company came out because of complaints and saw what hapened, they just cut the cables and relocked the box
I spent the best part of a day there and don’t think I came across the pet zone. Amazing market!
Weekday early morning helped!
I used to work in Bangkok and love the chatuchak market, except for the animal section. That was disturbing and shouldn’t exist, both from disease and cruelty perspectives
