Capt Weerayut Thansirisookworakun of the Chalong Police was notified of the fire at about 1:30pm.
He in turn called the Rawai Municipality Fire Department, which dispatched two firetrucks. Firefighters soon arrived at the scene and had the blaze under control within about 30minutes.
Temple staffers told police that they heard an explosion from the building and came running to see what had happened.
Inside the building, they saw sparks coming from a circuit breaker, Capt Weerayut reported.
The staffers said they attempted to extinguish the fire, but failed as there was no fire extinguisher nearby, prompting them to call the police.
Among the burned items inside the building were scorched chairs and tables. Officers estimated the damage caused by the fire at about B200,000.
Capt Weerayut noted that police at this stage believe that the cause of the fire was an electrical short circuit. However, he added that officers had yet to examine the scene in more depth in order to confirm this.
No mention was made in the report about the temple administrators failing to keep a fire extinguisher in the building.