Photo of Bangkok Governor Alone at Collapse Site Sparks Reflection

[webfact]

Picture courtesy of Siam Rath

 

On the evening of 1st April, at the incident command centre in Chatuchak, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt addressed a photo circulating of him sitting alone atop a car park at the collapsed building site.

 

He described the moment as a simple one, explaining, "I was just eating a quick meal like the volunteers, an omelette on rice, while sitting on the fifth floor.

 

I was thinking about those still inside the building and hoping they would hold on a little longer. I prayed for guidance to find them quickly, contemplating their rescue and hoping our efforts would suffice."

 

 

 

Based on a story by Siam Rath

 

-- 2025-04-02

 

 

[SAFETY FIRST]

32 minutes ago, webfact said:

Photo of Bangkok Governor Alone at Collapse Site

described the moment as a simple one,

I wonder if he put any thought into the people from department who signed off on this project. 

 

[bkk6060]

25 minutes ago, webfact said:

He described the moment as a simple one, explaining, "I was just eating a quick meal like the volunteers, an omelette on rice, while sitting on the fifth floor.

Sounds wonderful.  A man of the people for sure.

[novacova]

A prop reflection?

[steven100]

maybe he was contemplating his future,  what with all those brown envelopes circulating 

[Rimmer]

Troll post and replies have been removed

[Gottfrid]

Unfortunately, he is not alone, as it is an arranged image taken for the purpose to make people believe a certain thing.

[quake]

Nicely staged photo. 

[Ben Zioner]

Are there Buddhist saints? 

[squeakofdana]

2 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Unfortunately, he is not alone, as it is an arranged image taken for the purpose to make people believe a certain thing.

Why all the negative on this man, can't he be just in deep thoughts and sadness. I'm sure he has many thoughts in times like this, don't we all? 🙏 For all. There's enough negative in this world without adding more to this man.

[smew]

Chinese steel manufactures: 6month in jail per dead person: Thai corrupt building supervisors and inspectors: life in jail no parole   

[CallumWK]

Are Bangkok governor elections due?

[klauskunkel]

2 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Unfortunately, he is not alone, as it is an arranged image taken for the purpose to make people believe a certain thing.

I agree that he is not alone, somebody took the picture,

but

saying it is an arranged shoot for some purpose... nope, I don't think so.

[scorecard]

9 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Sounds wonderful.  A man of the people for sure.

 

He is in fact highly respected by the people as a good listener, good organizer and fixer. He speaks advanced English.

[steven100]

3 hours ago, scorecard said:

 

He is in fact highly respected by the people as a good listener, good organizer and fixer. He speaks advanced English.

so he's an honest thai then   

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

so he's an honest thai then   

 

Maybe, I don't know about that?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 hours ago, scorecard said:

 

He is in fact highly respected by the people as a good listener, good organizer and fixer. He speaks advanced English.

 

One thing I haven't seen clarified in all this -- is just WHAT level of government had building inspection / code compliance responsibilities for the State Audit building project.

 

Normally, for commercial projects, it would be the building staff from the BMA, which is under Chadchart's domain.

 

But in this case, the Audit building project was commissioned by and funded by the national government, which may mean that they, instead of the BMA, had jurisdiction over code compliance.

 

The lack of clarity about that makes it hard to know where to point the finger. :Perhaps it's in their interest to leave the details of such things vague and un-addressed.

 

 

[Peterphuket]

6 hours ago, squeakofdana said:

Why all the negative on this man, can't he be just in deep thoughts and sadness. I'm sure he has many thoughts in times like this, don't we all? 🙏 For all. There's enough negative in this world without adding more to this man.

Your first post, and a nice respectful one too.
My congratulations.

Welcome to the club.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Chadchart, prior to becoming a politician, was a civil/structural engineer by academic qualifications and trade. What happened at the State Audit building must make him literally sick to his stomach:

 

"He completed a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering (First Class Honors) from Chulalongkorn University and then received a Master's of Structural Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Doctorate of Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the USA with Ananda Mahidol Foundation Scholarship in 1987."

 

"Chadchart used to work as a structural engineer in a private company. Later in 1995, he joined the Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University as an associate professor and an assistant to the president. In addition, he has served as a director in many state enterprises such as The Transport Company Limited, Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand and Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Limited..."

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chadchart_Sittipunt

 

All that said, the BMA's potential culpability in all this hasn't been established, one way or the other, AFAIK.

 

 

 

[newnative]

     Might be worth noting that Chadchart became governor in 2022.  The building that collapsed began construction in 2020, on another governor's watch.  I'm not sure how much say the Bangkok governor would have had in a federal office building--likely not much, if any at all.   He's been educated at the University of Illinois and MIT, one of the most prestigious universities in America.  In my opinion, he's one of the good guys--and Bangkok's lucky to have him at the helm at a time like this.

    

 

 

 

[hotchilli]

23 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

I wonder if he put any thought into the people from department who signed off on this project. 

 

Doubtful, I also wonder if he had thoughts on the Chinese persons walking away with the paperwork...