Unsafe Condos In Bangkok?

[ujayujay]

17 hours ago, Celsius said:

 

Thats every person on this forum . Did you apply?

 

What a joke lol

And you are the self-proclaimed autodidactic engineer in every industry obviously......must be difficult for you to find friends with so much know-it-all🤣

[PomPolo]

39 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

 

They will be told, we don't need your help. You are not my father

Or let me see your work visa

[Digitalbanana]

3 hours ago, steven100 said:

Do you think this building has twisted or do you think it's the design as it should be   ??

Looks like a short column slab design that is unsuited to unstable ground, but cheaper to build. That said their Facebook page for the construction company refers to the design as "Their Pride" and implies it is a design feature.

[BusyB]

On 3/29/2025 at 5:50 PM, Elkski said:

From a picture I saw of a  hiso condo building in Thonglor with a bulging corner spanning many floors there are going to be many condemned.  All these guys bragging about how many rental condos the wife and them own might  be be hurting.    I don't see how you can fix fractured support beams and columns cheaply or timely.   Will it be cheaper to raze the building?  Do the owners have any say in that.    Who pays for a demo?  More construction dust and noise in bkk incoming.   Labor and material shortage.   

 

Yeah I'm (at least was) planning to stay in a high rise hotel in Bangkok in a couple of weeks - 20 floors - not so sure now. 

 

It would be interesting to know if some level of earthquake resistance was baked into any of Bangkok's (undoubtedly non-enforced) building regulations. Even if it was, the regs here  won't be anything like as strict as places like Taipei or Tokyo.

 

Could affect tourism if there's any serious repercussions and aftershocks.

 

 

[jojothai]

18 hours ago, Celsius said:

 

no.

 

Do you need a license to be a volunteer engineer?

There should be the need for qualification or a license for any inspections
If any volunteers are a farang, what about the work permit?

[Drumbuie]

5 hours ago, Andyfez said:

Cracked walls and ceilings doesn't necessarily mean unsafe.

one-up on settlement cracks.

A building is designed to flex, and plaster will always crack.

Suspect this list going round is not very reliable.

Somewhere I saw a note that after 2007, Bangkok buildings were designed to be earthquake- resilient. However, having seen that video of Park Origin's Sky Bridges shearing away,  I'm not 100% convinced, tbh. 

[Rolo89]

6 minutes ago, Drumbuie said:

However, having seen that video of Park Origin's Sky Bridges shearing away,  I'm not 100% convinced, tbh. 

That'll be part of earthquake design to have the bridges snap away at one side to let the buildings sway.

 

All the other new buildings with support columns cracked and supporting walls cracked are a big concern though. 

[Rampant Rabbit]

On 3/29/2025 at 11:50 PM, Elkski said:

From a picture I saw of a  hiso condo building in Thonglor with a bulging corner spanning many floors there are going to be many condemned.  All these guys bragging about how many rental condos the wife and them own might  be be hurting.    I don't see how you can fix fractured support beams and columns cheaply or timely.   Will it be cheaper to raze the building?  Do the owners have any say in that.    Who pays for a demo?  More construction dust and noise in bkk incoming.   Labor and material shortage.   

brag brag 9 been to them all ......no damage.....brag brag brag again

[Rampant Rabbit]

8 minutes ago, Rolo89 said:

That'll be part of earthquake design to have the bridges snap away at one side to let the buildings sway.

 

All the other new buildings with support columns cracked and supporting walls cracked are a big concern though. 

its also cantilevered off the building.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

Some potential issues may arise as this unfolds:

 

Has the juristic entity updated the sums insured for the insurance covering the condo building and other community property to account for inflation? If not, then what's called an "average penalty" or "coinsurance penalty" may be applied to partial losses. For example, if a building was insured for its original construction cost 10 years ago for 8 million baht, but the actual cost to replace it today would be 10 million baht, any partial loss would only be paid at 80% of the cost incurred to repair. In other words, for a cost to repair quake damage that a contractor charges 1 million baht to fix, the insured would only collect 800,000 in claims proceeds. For a total loss, the insurer would pay policy limits, but these would would still be only 80% of the cost to replace. Some policies may grant some leeway on this, perhaps up to 20%, but many don't.

 

If it is uneconomical to repair a building due to the nature and extent of the damage, the insurer may simply state that the building is a constructive total loss, in which case the insurer could pay the policy limits. Now the juristic entity and the unit owners face a dilemma. It may take many years to replace a large condo complex and some owners may simply want to collect insurance proceeds and walk away. Unfortunately, the replacement value of the building, which was used as the sum insured, will likely only be a fraction of the market value of all the units. Even if all unit owners agreed to abandon reconstruction and the juristic entity could distribute the insurance proceeds, they'd likely only get a fraction of what they paid for their units. I am not aware of any property insurance policy that will pay the difference between replacement value and market value for condo units, or anything else for that matter. Homeowners' insurance certainly won't.

 

Let's hope sums insured have been updated and that all damages are superficial so that none of the buildings need to be declared a constructive total loss.

 

 

[DonniePeverley]

Does anyone know if they use asbestos in the painting, plastering, tiling?

 

 

[it is what it is]

On 3/29/2025 at 4:50 PM, Elkski said:

From a picture I saw of a  hiso condo building in Thonglor with a bulging corner spanning many floors there are going to be many condemned.  All these guys bragging about how many rental condos the wife and them own might  be be hurting.    I don't see how you can fix fractured support beams and columns cheaply or timely.   Will it be cheaper to raze the building?  Do the owners have any say in that.    Who pays for a demo?  More construction dust and noise in bkk incoming.   Labor and material shortage.   

 

All these guys bragging about how many rental condos the wife and them own might  be be hurting.

 

don;t need to brag because it's just my normal life, but thankfully the gf has recently been selling her bkk condos - others she owns are outside bkk, and buying houses. she wasn;t getting great prices for the condos, but she's very happy now.

 

[Toby1947]

Said it for 20yrs Condo in Thailand ain't worth 3 pork sausages each.

[josephbloggs]

1 minute ago, Toby1947 said:

Said it for 20yrs Condo in Thailand ain't worth 3 pork sausages each.

You must be extremely dull company.

[Toby1947]

On 3/30/2025 at 3:17 AM, KhunLA said:

There goes that market   

 

You have to wonder, how many actually had earthquake insurance in the policy, if having at all.

 

We have no home insurance.  One story, well built, and not in 'red zone'.  Block & steel construction, so not even covered for fire.

Natural disasters are not covered on any building insurance policies, worldwide. Simple 

[KhunLA]

22 minutes ago, Toby1947 said:

Natural disasters are not covered on any building insurance policies, worldwide. Simple 

Depending on the policy of course, if wanting basic, el'cheap or extras, at additional cost of course.  Another silly generalization that does not 'fit all' 🙄

[Dexxter]

On 3/30/2025 at 3:57 AM, FriscoKid said:

here was a video on Twitter of Park Origin Thonglor, a three-tower development with two sky bridges on high floors connecting the three buildings. Both bridges collapsed. The towers themselves appeared intact, but who really knows.

 

Those bridges seem to be relatively lightweight add-on construction, not reinforced concrete or part of the main structure. I suspect they would be fairly easy to repair and not an indication of the integrity of the rest of the buildings.

 

[Dexxter]

On 3/31/2025 at 1:46 PM, steven100 said:

Do you think this building has twisted or do you think it's the design as it should be   ??

 

 

 

Perhaps they lost their....