More than 10 fire engines were called to market at about 4:30am, said Lt Sunan Petchnoo of Thalang Police.
“No one was injured in the fire,” Lt Sunan confirmed to The Phuket News.
Local residents said the fire broke out at about 4:10am, when they saw black smoke billowing out from the unit owned by Auschara Saetiao, Lt Sunan explained
Ms Auschara, 49, lives in the unit but operates her SangDee clothes shop at the front of the unit, he added.
“The fire quickly spread to the other units. Firefighters arrived very quickly but took one hour to control the fire,” Lt Sunan explained.
“The road past the market was closed to traffic while firefighters brought the flames under control,” he added.
Four of the five units consumed by the fire were single level, with Kan Saetiao, 51, residing in two single-level units, and Jutharat Lilapansit, 46, living in one unit with her fashion clothes shop at the front.
“Ms Ratee Krajanglok, 53, lives in the two-level unit at the end of the block. She has a clothes shop downstairs but lives upstairs with her family,” Lt Sunan said.
“Luckily they all escaped from the buildings unharmed,” he added.
“Police will investigate to find what caused the fire,” Lt Sunan said.
The fire is estimated to have caused “many millions” of baht in damage.
It has yet to be confirmed whether all the buildings were covered by insurance.