Bangkok Building Collapse Sets Unwanted World Records

[Reddavy]

21 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Wonder if the tsunami early warning system is still working?

Doubt it 🤷🏼

[Photoguy21]

4 hours ago, jippytum said:

The more Chineese companies are allowed  to partake in major construction projects the more likelihood of further disasters. 

Crooked Thai officials combined with Chineese developers spell trouble. 

The Chinese are really bad to work with. They wont listen to anyone. I worked on a project that was being constructed by the Chinese, was the worst job ever.

[Ebumbu]

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

It was certainly pretty shocking to see it go down like that.

 

Reminded me of building 7 collpasing into it's own footprint in 5 seconds after suffering a few small localized fires. 

 

Did the Thai building house any Enron, SEC, DoD, IRS, and CIA records like Building 7 did? If so, it was thermite! 

[mran66]

21 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Wonder if the tsunami early warning system is still working?

 

Probably works same as fingerprint scanners in airports, recording earthquakes but not alerting anyone in case quake happened. 

[oustaristocrats]

5 hours ago, jippytum said:

The more Chineese companies are allowed  to partake in major construction projects the more likelihood of further disasters. 

Crooked Thai officials combined with Chineese developers spell trouble. 

 

Yes and the biggest crooked Thai official is in power now, so what can we expect ?

[Toby1947]

22 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Wonder if the tsunami early warning system is still working?

Don't be silly that would require maintenance, a word not in the Thai vocabulary. 🤣

[josephbloggs]

1 hour ago, dinsdale said:

You're wrong that's why no-one's talking about it. The building was topped off a year ago. What was there should have survived. It was structurally complete.

So it was topped off a year ago then they decided not to do anything else with it for 12 months? Just decided to leave it as a shell?

[dinsdale]

6 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

So it was topped off a year ago then they decided not to do anything else with it for 12 months? Just decided to leave it as a shell?

Topping off means it's structurally complete. You can actually see cladding on the building and there were workers inside working on things when it collapsed so I've got no idea what you're saying.

[sabaijai]

6 hours ago, TheFishman1 said:

What’s wrong with Thailand is they never put safety first they use cheap materials Chinese labor do you see what the outcome is TIT

Yes, an outcome in which one building in a city of 10+ million collapsed. 

[kwilco]

23 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Wonder if the tsunami early warning system is still working?

look at the geography!!

I suspect you haven’t bothered to research this preferring to rely on bar gossip  and prejudice. Since its major rollout after 2004, the system has hugely improved. Based in Bangkok, it’s the core agency that monitors and issues tsunami alerts. But it's not without problems.

Thailand has generally issued timely alerts through sirens, media, and mobile phones—especially in Phuket and Phang Nga.

People in coastal communities, including tourists, are now much more aware of what to do— there is also visible signage, hotel safety info, and occasional drills.

Thailand works with the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWS), allowing it to receive early seismic data from international partners like Indonesia, India, and Australia.

However information from Myanmar, thanks to the Junts is patchy.

As with many systems in Thailand maintenance has been poor at times; some of the tsunami detection buoys have been known to have gone offline through damage or poor maintenance. There have been times when it was revealed only one buoy was functional, which raised concerns. Also rural areas have suffered neglect.

While signs and routes are posted, tourists tend to ignore them or may not always notice them or understand the sirens, especially if no context is given. Hotel staff training varies by place. The result is that tourists don’t react when real alerts occur.

So, The system is definitely functional and much better than pre-2004, especially in tourist-heavy areas. However, reliability depends on location, and ongoing investment in maintenance and education is crucial.

Do you know the sound of the tsunami siren?

Do you keep an eye on local news or weather apps

Do you know the signs of a tsunami and how they happen?

 

[geisha]

23 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Wonder if the tsunami early warning system is still working?

It’s not apparently, the article is on AN somewhere.

[off road pat]

23 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Wonder if the tsunami early warning system is still working?

The internet is your friend, use it.

https://world.thaipbs.or.th/detail/twenty-years-after-boxing-day-tsunami-thailands-disaster-defences-crumbling/55927

[off road pat]

5 hours ago, thongplay said:

But the construction work wasn't finished. Concrete takes about 30 days to reach full strength. So if there were, say, three stories concrete poured in the last month it would have been in a very weak condition.

 

And buildings that are 'earthquake resistant' applies to completely built buildings - it cannot apply to buildings still under construction as is the case here.

 

A question. Apart from myself why is no one talking about this?

 

 

I saw dozens of buildings under construction in Bangkok. None of them caved in !!!

[Andycoops]

On 4/3/2025 at 3:48 PM, BritManToo said:

Wonder if the tsunami early warning system is still working?

Apparently not as it's just been reported some of the tsunami infrastructure has to quote 'gone missing' TIT

[KannikaP]

2 hours ago, Ebumbu said:

 

Did the Thai building house any Enron, SEC, DoD, IRS, and CIA records like Building 7 did? If so, it was thermite! 

The building wasn't finished or occupied.

[josephbloggs]

1 hour ago, dinsdale said:

Topping off means it's structurally complete. You can actually see cladding on the building and there were workers inside working on things when it collapsed so I've got no idea what you're saying.

I know what it means. I was just asking because I have seen no reports that it was structurally complete a year ago. So where did you see this?

I don't think I've ever seen a building in Bangkok that tops out and then still looks absolutely no where near completion a whole year later.

[SpaceKadet]

8 hours ago, jippytum said:

The more Chineese companies are allowed  to partake in major construction projects the more likelihood of further disasters. 

Crooked Thai officials combined with Chineese developers spell trouble. 

You should be aware that the vast majority of the construction companies, and in fact any major company, is owned by Thai Chinese or Chinese from the mainland. Would be difficult to avoid them.

Chinese are infamous to use sub-standard materials to maximize their profits.

 

Recent examples, the baby formula containing only chemicals with no nutrition whatsoever (many babies died), melamine laced milk, etc. There are hundreds of examples, too many to mention.

 

The same goes for construction, lowest quality steel rebars, lowest quality concrete.... you name it...

Just lucky China is not on a major fault line.

 

I just wonder how many skyscrapers in BKK have cracks, that get silenced with fat brown envelopes. 

[KhunLA]

... "Thailand faces global scrutiny after the new State Audit Office (SAO) building in Bangkok collapsed, setting grim world records: it's the tallest building to fall in an earthquake and the furthest from an epicenter to suffer such a fate. " ...

 

Tells you everything you need to know.  Should be something like a '70 body count negligent manslaughter charge'.  Obviously should have never happened.

 

Company, site manager, material supplier should all be held accountable.

 

R I P

[Alexjkr]

8 hours ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

The chances of a tsunami from a quake epicenter-ed in central Myanmar fairly slim to non existent yeah?

You do realise where the boundaries of the Indian Tectonic plate are?

[Alexjkr]

Just now, Alexjkr said:

You do realise where the boundaries of the Indian Tectonic plate are?

That Sunda plate boundary looks very ominous.

[markus]

10 hours ago, kuzmabruk said:

The unfortunate thing is that all if these good intentions will fall on deaf and dumb ears and nothing will actually be done.  Talk is cheap and Thais love to talk but they don’t like to do.  

Like the dubious traffic checks when helmets are checked again when riding a motorcycle, for example. The Thais tell me in advance where there will be another police check and that I should wear a helmet. Failed traffic education measures!

[Caldera]

One has got to wonder if this particular building was built so poorly that it would have collapsed anyway, even without an earthquake or with a weaker one in the future. The thought that this could have happened later when fully staffed is quite scary.

[thesetat]

14 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

A few years ago it was written that most of the sensors were offline, so I guess either not, or not very well.

The sensors would not have helped in this instance. 

I feel bad about the people caught up in the aftermath of this earthquake. 

But at the same time I can finally say Thailand legitimately earned 2 spots as #1 in the world. 

[Arthur Mullard]

I can just imagine any Chinese on here reading this - and there will be - will be having a really tough time with his or her levels of denial.

 

Whoever you are just reassure yourself with the thought that this avoidable disaster that cost the lives of the local population is what your culture exports abroad to enrich the values of people's lives; common prosperity for all... 

[madone]

On 4/3/2025 at 3:48 PM, BritManToo said:

Wonder if the tsunami early warning system is still working?

As an aside, I remember when locals defaced or destroyed tsunami escape route signs on Phangan because they thought they were bad for tourism. 

[madone]

7 hours ago, KhunLA said:

... "Thailand faces global scrutiny after the new State Audit Office (SAO) building in Bangkok collapsed, setting grim world records: it's the tallest building to fall in an earthquake and the furthest from an epicenter to suffer such a fate. " ...

 

Tells you everything you need to know.  Should be something like a '70 body count negligent manslaughter charge'.  Obviously should have never happened.

 

Company, site manager, material supplier should all be held accountable.

 

R I P

The fact that bangkok is built on a mud plain- not unlike Mexico City is often overlooked, though not in this article 

[Don Giovanni]

15 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Sadly Chinese poor construction to allow Thailand this award. 

 

...Nothing to do with fat Premchai then?

 

The Don.

[josephbloggs]

34 minutes ago, Arthur Mullard said:

I can just imagine any Chinese on here reading this - and there will be - will be having a really tough time with his or her levels of denial.

 

Whoever you are just reassure yourself with the thought that this avoidable disaster that cost the lives of the local population is what your culture exports abroad to enrich the values of people's lives; common prosperity for all... 

Why should an average Chinese person feel ashamed of themselves for this? It looks like a possible crooked company doing bad things - 51% Thai, nothing to do with an entire nation.

Are all Americans ashamed of themselves because Boeing cut corners and built planes which fell out of the sky? Or is it just Boeing that's bad and not an entire nation?



 

[Arthur Mullard]

5 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Why should an average Chinese person feel ashamed of themselves for this? It looks like a possible crooked company doing bad things - 51% Thai, nothing to do with an entire nation.

Are all Americans ashamed of themselves because Boeing cut corners and built planes which fell out of the sky? Or is it just Boeing that's bad and not an entire nation?



 

 

Well I think if the average Chinese person was not so brainwashed by the notion that their dinosaur-in-a-suit of a leader's mantra, was a deeply humanitarian force of good for the world, I'd agree with you.

 

I personally don't believe the average Chinese person isn't, which you may disagree with.

 

Boeing doesn't represent an ideological push to re-shape the world order with a somehow 'more virtuous than though' laughable set of "cultural" values.