When the owners of a single-story house in Chiang Rai discovered the new room they had added was heating the house up like a sauna they became alarmed and reported it to local authorities.
The owner of the house, Sawang Siri-ard, 71, sad he and his family were frightened by how hot the single-story concrete house had become.
A team of local officials and soldiers led by Thoeng district chief Sutthiluck Rakcharoen on Sunday inspected the house, in Ban Nong Raed Nua Moo 2 village of Thoeng district.
The hot point was detected near a concrete support pillar in the new room. Officials were stunned when a cup of water placed near the pillar boiled in five minutes.
A team of electricians sent to inspect the house measured the floor temperature at the pillar and recorded a shocking 62 degrees Celsius. They immediately cut the electricity supply to the room. When they went back on Monday and checked, it had fallen to 38 degrees Celsius.
A thorough examination of the wiring in the new room revealed an electrical leak near the bathroom. They repaired the wiring and the room slowly returned to normal temperature levels, Thai media reported on Tuesday.
Adul Jaitabut, a senior geologist at the Lampang-based Mineral Resources Regional Office, said worries the heat build up may have been caused by gas leaking from under the ground or by a seismic fault were misplaced.