Quake Jolts Thai Tourism: Rising Concerns Over Safety

[scotsdude]

And foreigners getting beaten up left, right & centre splashed all over social media doesn't help matters...

[liddelljohn]

National Disaster  , low season here as well   tourism down,,,  so why are air fares to Thailand rising again ,,,,?????????  

[chondan]

6 hours ago, blazes said:

 

No, it will require a "crackdown" on earthquakes....

 

That is a good one.

[arick]

30 days 

[trainman34014]

Horrid truth is that less then 10% of Buildings in Bangkok are Quake Proof; the main reason for this is that Bangkok is not high on the list of vulnerable to Earthquakes.     However; as time passes this is likely to change as The Planet is finding ways to punish Man for causing so much change and turmoil right across the World.

 

Future Generations will be a lot weaker, sicker and die earlier than the long lives many of us are now enjoying owing to many different factors, all Man made.    Babies are now being born with Microplastics in their bodies and will develop Cancerous symptoms before they are even Teenagers.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

8 hours ago, 1happykamper said:

... assurance based on what exactly? A crystal ball! They have no idea. 

 

Many think twice about driving via Rama 2. How about a nice Sunday brunch on a bkk rooftop to celebrate your success at arrival?! No thanks. Pass 

 

One example: the wife and I were long overdue for a weekend getaway. We wanted to go to Hua Hin as is our custom, but absolutely did not want to be driving on Rama II in the wake of the recent construction mishaps and resulting fatalities there... So, we didn't go to Hua Hin as planned.

 

PS - FWIW, we also explored taking the Rama II expressway-free SRT train service to Hua Hin, but couldn't get available air con seats for the going and returning trip dates we needed. So that was a fail also.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

12 hours ago, MalcolmB said:

This will blow over in a couple of weeks.

 

Perhaps you might want to reconsider your choice of wording there... 

 

We've already had an EQ that caused a highrise building to collapse killing (thus far officially) a dozen inside with many dozens more still unaccounted for.

 

The last thing Thailand needs right now is a typhoon!!!

[MalcolmB]

23 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Perhaps you might want to reconsider your choice of wording there... 

 

We've already had an EQ that caused a highrise building to collapse killing (thus far officially) a dozen inside with many dozens more still unaccounted for.

 

The last thing Thailand needs right now is a typhoon!!!

It is blowies that brought me here.

[MikeandDow]

1 hour ago, trainman34014 said:

Horrid truth is that less then 10% of Buildings in Bangkok are Quake Proof; the main reason for this is that Bangkok is not high on the list of vulnerable to Earthquakes.     However; as time passes this is likely to change as The Planet is finding ways to punish Man for causing so much change and turmoil right across the World.

 

Future Generations will be a lot weaker, sicker and die earlier than the long lives many of us are now enjoying owing to many different factors, all Man made.    Babies are now being born with Microplastics in their bodies and will develop Cancerous symptoms before they are even Teenagers.

Since 21 The building code has require all new buildings are to be quake proof  that the law

[har0165]

I spend 6 months of the year in a Bangkok condo on the 33rd floor, and fortunately I wasn't there during the quake. Talking to the landlord, he informed me there are cracks in the ceilings, and the concrete floors have buckled in places, yet people are still living there. Doesn't sound safe to me. And the people that have bought condos would seem to have massive repair bills and a loss on their investment. 

I won't be going back there anytime soon, out of concerns of a collapse ,  I'll rent a house or even go to another country all together.

[Patong2021]

14 hours ago, MalcolmB said:

Thailand always bounces back.

Barely a year after the tsunami the planes and hotels were full again.

This will blow over in a couple of weeks.

Thailand is a big country.  It was 2 years before the  tourism  sector showed  the recovery. Not barely a year as you write.. Some regions took more time, like Patong. and much of Phuket.  The  tremor in Bangkok is a very differebt scenario. People will be hesitant to stay in some of the high rise hotels if they feel they have not been certified safe by  an engineer.  I know I won't be visiting  the city anytime soon.   Bangkok tourism will suffer for some time. Other regions not so much and yes it will be business as usual in most places. Didn't even feel a thing in Hua Hin.

[DonniePeverley]

Thousands dying in Myanmar .... complete destruction in that zone. 

 

Thailand meanwhile is looking at a loss of tourism - that won't even happen. 

 

Absolute cretins. 

[DonniePeverley]

4 hours ago, liddelljohn said:

National Disaster  , low season here as well   tourism down,,,  so why are air fares to Thailand rising again ,,,,?????????  

 

 

It's not low season. Thailand is packed with tourists. Most of these are cheap tourists, who spend nothing - thanks to the policies this current lot have set out. 

[blaze master]

I'm surprised someone in the government didn't scramble to call thailand the hub of earthquakes. 

[watchcat]

17 hours ago, kwan said:

Tourism drops . . In just a couple of days ??

 

Sounds nice to me.

[Ralf001]

Not seeing any downsides to tourists leaving/not coming to be honest.

Thailand was awesome during covid.

[Ralf001]

7 hours ago, DonniePeverley said:

 

 

It's not low season. Thailand is packed with tourists. Most of these are cheap tourists, who spend nothing - thanks to the policies this current lot have set out. 

 

Typically low season in Thailand is March to October... these are the months were there is reduced numbers of tourists.

[watchcat]

12 hours ago, liddelljohn said:

National Disaster  , low season here as well   tourism down,,,  so why are air fares to Thailand rising again ,,,

 

Less customers rise the fares a standard for thailand.

[mrfill]

Didn't expect to ever see the words 'Thailand' and ' safety concerns' in the same sentence.

[Sig]

I haven't heard much of anything about Chiangmai. I'd expect a lot more damage in Chiangmai that Bangkok... it is less than half the distance from the epicenter. I don't expect the corruption in the construction industry are much different between the two. Anyone here know if Chiangmai is much different in damages? I'm out of town at the moment....

[NoshowJones]

On 3/31/2025 at 9:02 AM, Tropicalevo said:

Surely the solution is simple.

The government should just ban earthquakes.

They usually ban or gaol anything/anyone that they perceive as a threat. 

They don't ban drunken drivers and speeding traffic, because they do very little to stop it.

[NoshowJones]

20 hours ago, blazes said:

 

No, it will require a "crackdown" on earthquakes....

 

Yes, a 24 hour one. 

[NoshowJones]

13 hours ago, liddelljohn said:

National Disaster  , low season here as well   tourism down,,,  so why are air fares to Thailand rising again ,,,,?????????  

Capitalism, greed etc.

[trainman34014]

12 hours ago, MikeandDow said:

Since 21 The building code has require all new buildings are to be quake proof  that the law

In a Country of persistent Law Breakers from top to bottom, not to mention the bent Building Inspectors, the intruduction of new laws means diddly <deleted> !

 

[MikeandDow]

5 minutes ago, trainman34014 said:

In a Country of persistent Law Breakers from top to bottom, not to mention the bent Building Inspectors, the intruduction of new laws means diddly <deleted> !

 

Pointing out Your post was wrong !!  with incorrect info    

[khunphil]

21 hours ago, Rolo89 said:

Tourism will be fine, the condo market in BKK is going to have serious issues with how many earthquake proof structures had a lot of damage - the new buildings in the last 20 years were the worst effected. The older ones had next to no damage.

Isn't it supposed to be the opposite? Shouldn't the construction law ensure that buildings can withstand an earthquake since the 2000s?"

[MikeandDow]

Just now, khunphil said:

Isn't it supposed to be the opposite? Shouldn't the construction law ensure that buildings can withstand an earthquake since the 2000s?"

correct the building code since 21 requires building to be quake proof

[wozzlegummich]

16 hours ago, liddelljohn said:

National Disaster  , low season here as well   tourism down,,,  so why are air fares to Thailand rising again ,,,,?????????  

And it doesn't seem to have effected the BAHT either.

[Rolo89]

1 hour ago, khunphil said:

Isn't it supposed to be the opposite? Shouldn't the construction law ensure that buildings can withstand an earthquake since the 2000s?"

yes the building code since 2007 was supposted to mean there wouldn't be much damage at all with an earthquake like this, it was strengthened in 2021. 

 

Only a fool would buy a new condo now without having an independant assesment on the building.

[Walker88]

(Almost) the only thing to fear is fear itself.

 

Yes, some people will be spooked, but tourists flood to Turkey, Japan, etc. and places that have suffered severe quakes. Maybe it takes a little time. I suspect it will be a blip.

 

There is way too much speculation, and not so many facts right now. Everybody seems to be a structural engineer. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think there is a major difference between cosmetic damage and structural damage. Damage to load-bearing structures is a concern, but if it's internal, non-load-bearing walls, it just looks bad. It will take time to check all the high rises in Bangkok. I suspect any building built or owned by a Japanese company will be inspected by Japanese structural engineers, and that's a lot of Bangkok buildings.

 

I lived in Japan many years and endured hundreds of quakes of varying degrees. Only a few were of a power that knocked plates and glasses out of cabinets, pictures off the wall, and one time me out of my bed. I worked on a high floor, and it got to how we enjoyed the carnival ride as the building swayed. I used to walk to the window, figuring if it was the big one, I'd enjoy the view going down. People get over it. It might even be that more quakes are good, because they become routine. Okay, I don't wish that.

 

There could be another quake tomorrow, or there might not be another one for fifty years. Let's wait until facts come out and the degree of real structural damage vs cosmetic damage can be assessed. Or pitch a tent in Lumpini Park and sleep with the monitor lizards. Or stay in a flood zone back home or tornado alley in the US.