SURAT THANI: Fire ripped through a stylish teak wood hotel at Big Buddha beach on Koh Samui late on Thursday night, with damage estimated at 3 million baht.
The blaze at the Erawan Villa Hotel on the Bangrak-Ban Plailaem Road in tambon Bophut began around 9.55pm, according to Bophut police.
Eight fire trucks and crews converged on the scene as flames engulfed the beach front hotel, fanned by a stiff wind. It took firemen more than one hour to bring the blaze under control. The two-storey hotel was gutted.
One foreign man was reported to have sustained minor burns to his body, but there were no other casualties, Thai media reported on Friday.
Police were investigating the cause of the fire. They planned to call in the owner of the hotel, identified only as Mr Philippe, a French national, for questioning.