Forensic police on Sunday examined a four-storey building at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in Bangkok where a fire broke out the day before, damaging several rooms, as the government ruled out political foul play.
Pol Lt Gen Trairong Phiwpan, chief of the Police Forensic Science Office, led a team of forensic experts including chemists and physicists to collect evidence and identify the cause of the fire that destroyed about 20 square metres of the building on Ratchadamnoen Avenue in Phra Nakhon district on Saturday evening.
Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow downplayed concerns that important documents – notably those related to the investigation into the extortion gang allegedly led by serial anti-corruption complainant Srisuwan Janya – might have been damaged or lost in the fire.
He said the documents in the case were not in the advisor’s room and the incident had nothing to do with political foul play, adding he would have received a tip-off if that were the case.
Mr Chaiya said he had examined the damage in his office and confirmed that no documents concerning ongoing corruption investigations were affected by the fire.
Pol Lt Gen Trairong said the blaze started in the kitchen on the second floor and completely destroyed it. Flames spread quickly to a toilet, ceiling, a meeting room and the office of the advisor to Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Chaiya Promma.
The cost of the damage is not known yet.
The building's security guard saw smoke billowing out from the kitchen's window around 6pm on Saturday and alerted firefighters, who took about 20 minutes to extinguish the fire. A caretaker and a termite exterminator were in the building but both said they had not entered the kitchen.
Pol Lt Gen Trairong said he joined forensic experts to inspect the scene in a bid to identify the cause of the fire swiftly and forward findings to police investigators.
Firefighters work at the scene of the blaze.