The “fire sale” stalls will be open from 3pm to 9pm on both Saturday and Sunday this coming weekend (June 2-3).
The blaze last Sunday night destroyed some 80 shops at the market, ripping through the site in just one hour, destroying stalls and the vendors goods totalling an estimated B4-5 million. (See story here.)
The Chatuchak Market is well known for cheap goods and secondhand clothes, and remains one of the splinter groups from the original, huge Phuket Chatuchak Market on Phang Nga Rd more than a decade ago.
The rest of the original Phuket Chatuchak Market vendors left to create what is now the Expo Market on the corner of Tilok U-Thit 2 Rd and Chanacharoen Rd in Phuket Town, while others moved south to join the Naka Weekend Market on Wirat Hongyok Rd in Wichit.
Investigators have yet to determine the cause of Sunday’s fire, though electrical short-circuits causing sparks is a common cause of household fires throughout the country.
Peetiphas Pattarapagorn, Assistant Manager of the market, told The Phuket News, “Right now we are waiting for officials to confirm the cause of fire. then we will know what we will do next.”
Mr Peetiphas said the market was not covered by insurance as the structures were deemed as only temporary.
However, he added, “We are supporting the vendors by giving tents and allocating them areas where they can set up their stalls for free for at least a month.”