A U.S. government office responsible for military training was hit by a fire in Bangkok, Thailand, this evening.

Flames and smoke were seen coming from the building of the Joint United States Military Advisory Group Thailand (JUSMAGTHAI) in the Sathorn area of the city.

Fire trucks responded to the inferno next to the German Embassy at around 7:35 pm local time on Monday August 8.

Police Coonel Krisada Manawongsakul, Superintendent of the Thung Maha Mek Police Station, said five vehicles had brought the blaze under control within 15 minutes and extinguished it.

Officials said there were no staff or residents inside the building at the time of the fire. They are now investigating the cause of the inferno at such a politically significant target amid tension's with Thailand's closest neighbor and biggest economic funder, China.

The police chief added: 'An initial damage survey found that the area was burned on the second floor of about 50 square meters.

'The police will coordinate the responsible supervisors to conduct an inspection of the source that caused the fire.'

Joint United States Military Advisory Group Thailand (JUSMAGTHAI ) is described on its website as 'the U.S. Security Cooperation Office (SCO) in Thailand'.

The organization is responsible for organising close to 100 training missions a year for more than 10,000 servicemen.

It adds: 'The Chief of JUSMAGTHAI is also the Senior Defense Official (SDO). In addition to its military chain of command at United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) in Hawaii, JUSMAGTHAI is also directly responsible to the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand.