Some 3,000 employees have been evacuated after a fire broke out at a Panasonic parts factory in Nam Phong, Khon Kaen province, on Wednesday.
Three were suffocated by the smoke and was sent to a hospital but no one was seriously injured, Thai media reported.
The fire started at 11am on Wednesday at a crane in the warehouse, one of the three buildings at the factory owned by Panasonic Manufacturing (Thailand) Co Ltd. The warehouse keeps parts to be further assembled at the main factory.
The fire quickly spread through the warehouse since most parts are made of flammable plastic.
Twenty fire trucks found it hard to contain the fire as the warehouse is closed space. They finally succeeded at 1pm.
Villagers living 300 metres from the factory said they heard 2-3 explosions before smelling burnt rubber and seeing smoke coming from the warehouse.