The long-held belief that Bangkok is free from major earthquakes, or dangerous tremors, from neighbouring countries like Myanmar, was literally shattered on Friday afternoon as the 7.7 magnitude quake with the epicentre over 300 kilometres from the Thai border shook Bangkok, central, and northern Thailand.
It sent hundreds of thousands Thais and foreigners in the Thai capital fleeing from shopping malls, high-rise condominiums, office buildings, hospitals and hotels, in a scene resembling the end-of-the-world scenario of a Hollywood film.
Most tragically is the collapse of the 33-storey State Audit Office building, which was still under construction, in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district. As I type these words on Sunday, March 30, 2025, nearly 48 hours after the building collapsed, some seventy workers, including some Myanmar workers, remained unaccounted for and the hope that there will be any survivor still is dimming by the hour. I was at the site of the rubble yesterday afternoon and the huge pile of rubble itself appears as high as a five or six-storey building – a very sad and daunting sight.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra rightly questioned on Saturday as to why this was the only building which collapsed and demanded an answer within seven days.
It must be noted that there were many hi-rise buildings under various stages of construction in Bangkok and none except this one collapsed.
It’s most ironic that the building was supposed to be the office of state auditor, in which their roles include scrutinising the use of taxpayers’ money by all government agencies. Now they themselves are being scrutinised as to how their 2.1 billion baht was spent and how it ended up as a deadly rubble so disturbingly captured on video and spread by the media around the world.
Another disturbing fact is that the construction of the ill-fated building was awarded to a joint venture between Italian-Thai Develpment Group and China Railway Number 10 Group, a major Chinese state enterprise.
Given that it’s a Chinese state enterprise, we would have sensibly expected that the Chinese government would have said something by now, order a probe, and commit itself to assist the Thai government in its investigation. Disappointedly, the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok on Saturday issued a statement on its Facebook page expressing condolences without mentioning the elephant in the room – China Railway Number 10 Group.
This despite some Chinese netizens expressing disappointment and shame at the result of the construction, which before the incident boasted its hi-tech construction method that would save 10 percent of the construction time. By pretending to be oblivious to the matter, the Chinese government unwittingly gives ammunition to some Thais who are already fanning anti-China sentiment on social media.
Moving on to the issue of text message warnings after the quake on Friday afternoon, it was too clearly too slow and for many. This writer didn’t even receive any post-quake emergency SMS advice from the government as of Sunday noon, nearly two days after. All told, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) defended itself by saying the cell broadcasting system will only be operational in June.
This is 20 years after the tsunami incident which killed thousands of people in Thailand! This is (almost) unforgivable as many panicked and rumours spread in the hours after the tremors. The PM herself said that even for those who eventually received some message, “it took far too long.” This writer thinks someone deserved, actually should, be fired.
Another major post-tremors challenge, which will linger on for many months, if not years, is how safe are the many hi-rise buildings still standing in Bangkok. As of press time, Bangkok City Hall is trying to examine the structural integrity of some 160 buildings. Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt has just issued an order, requiring all hi-rise building management to commission engineering experts to examine the structural integrity of their buildings.
Two Bangkok condos have been declared too dangerous to inhabit. It’s expected that there will be more dangerous buildings and everyone working, and living in hi-rise buildings in Bangkok, central and northern Thailand, need to be vigilant and observe their habitat and office carefully, for their own safety.
Going forward, Thailand will also need to review its minimum construction criterias, particularly for hi-rise building, in response to the new shattering reality.
Moving on to Myanmar, which has suffered much more than Thailand, with over a thousand officially reported killed, while it stands at 10 in Thailand as of now, it is only appropriate that Thailand joins the international community in assisting Myanmar. The Paetongtarn government, in this regard, acted in a timely fashion and has already dispatched a team of 55 personnel from the Army Operations Department to support Myanmar in Naypyidaw and Mandalay.
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Note: After the writer finished the article, Chinese Ambassador to Thailand Han Zhiqiang met with Deputy PM Anutin Charnvirakul on Sunday and pledged to cooperate in the investigation of the collapsed building.
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