A method for detecting the boundaries between oil, water and air in an opaque container is proposed, in which variations in the surface temperature of the container are monitored via thermography following momentary heating of the container by a high-intensity light flash. This technique makes use of dynamic heat transport processes occurring over a very short timescale and is both nondestructive and non-contact. We describe verification trials carried out with polyvinyl chloride and copper containers, in which the proposed detection method readily identified the boundary between two phases consisting of water, oil or air. This method was also successful in detecting three interfaces formed in a system composed of water, two kinds of oil and air. The technique was, however, unable to detect boundaries in containers with a wall thickness of more than 1 mm, which thus constitutes a kind of detection limit.We outline the theoretical foundations of the observation method based on qualitative descriptions using simplified models that are able to explain the experimental results. We expect this observation method to have a wide range of applications in industry.