A Dutch tourist in Pattaya, Thailand, narrowly avoided causing a major fire when he fell asleep while frying chicken, prompting an evacuation of his apartment building. The incident occurred in the early hours of October 31 at the Laguna Beach Resort.
Fethullah Ezka, 30, had reportedly been drinking alcohol before attempting to cook. He fell asleep on his bed with the stove still on, allowing smoke to fill the corridors of the building. Tenants fled the apartments as smoke spread across multiple floors before police were alerted around 4:30 a.m. local time.
Three fire engines were dispatched to the scene. Responders went door-to-door to ensure residents evacuated safely. After a 30-minute search, firefighters traced the smoke to unit 304 on the third floor. Staff used a spare key to enter the apartment, where they found a burnt pan with charred chicken on the stove and raw chicken on a cutting board. Ezka was found asleep in his bedroom and had to be shaken awake by officers.
He reportedly admitted to drinking and forgetting to turn off the stove. "The foreign tenant was sleeping inside the room. We repeatedly called out to him, but he did not wake up until we shook him, and then he woke up," said firefighter Siriwat Prawit. No injuries or fatalities were reported, but the incident caused significant panic among residents. Pattaya is a popular tourist destination in Asia, and emergency services report being busy responding to incidents involving tourists.