PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN - A couple and their 18-month-old daughter were killed in a fire that razed a house at a shrimp farm in Sam Roi Yot district early on Wednesday, police said.
Pol Lt Nathapol Piewpat, a duty officer at Sam Roy Yot police station, said police and administrative officials rushed to the shrimp farm near Ton Sai village in tambon Salalai at about 6am for investigation on being informed of the fire.
They found the one-storey house had been completely burned down. The charred bodies of Samran Phetpradap, 44, his wife Rungthip Saithong, 35, and their baby, who was about one and a half years old, were found on the floor.
An Isuzu pick-up truck and a motorcycle were also destroyed by the fire.
Their neighbours who live a distance away said they heard only a loud noise at about 4am but were not aware that a house had been on fire. They found the house was completely burned down only later in the morning.
Pol Maj Gen Prasert Siripannapirat, the acting Prachuap Khiri Khan police chief, said the police were investigating to find out whether the fire was caused by an arsonist or a power short-circuit.
The three bodies would be examined to find out whether they died in the fire or had been murdered before the fire broke out, he added.