Earthquake assessment reveals 60 buildings closed in Bangkok
Over the past 12 days, the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning assessed 7,649 buildings affected by the recent earthquake that hit Bangkok. Of these, 7,200 are safe for use, 389 have moderate damage, and 60 have been closed due to significant structural issues.
Today, April 9, the Department’s Damage Assessment Centre, in conjunction with engineering organisations and private sector volunteer engineers, initiated checks on reported damaged buildings. These buildings were categorised into three groups for inspection purposes.
The first group includes public buildings such as hospitals, schools, and government offices in Bangkok. The Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning, along with engineering bodies, conducted these inspections.
From March 28 to April 8, 202 government-related units comprising 600 buildings were inspected, revealing 544 buildings as safe (green status), 54 with moderate damage but still usable (yellow status), and 2 significantly damaged requiring closure (red status).
The second group comprises high-rise and large private structures, including hotels, condominiums, and shopping centres. These buildings are subject to annual inspections under building control laws.
Bangkok officials have informed private building owners to conduct immediate inspections following a directive issued on March 31 by Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
The directive mandates the inspection of structures like high-rise buildings, large complexes, theatres, hotels with over 80 rooms, multi-story factories with an area of at least 5,000 square metres, and residential complexes over 2,000 square metres.
Approximately 11,000 private buildings were identified for inspection, with reports already received for 2,470 of them.
The third group includes residential buildings like townhouses and shophouses in Bangkok. The local officials are responsible for advising residents via the Traffy Fondue platform. As of April 8, 18,837 reports were lodged, with 17,983 resolved.
For provincial areas, local engineering offices, along with private engineers, have been tasked to inspect public buildings such as hospitals. Across 76 provinces, 7,049 buildings were assessed: 6,656 are safe (green status), 335 have moderate damage (yellow status), and 58 are severely damaged and closed (red status).
The Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning offers information and advice through various media and has a 24-hour hotline at 1531, 02 299 4191, and 02 299 4312.
The department has also clarified the colour-coded building status system: green indicates minor or no damage, yellow signifies moderate damage requiring caution, and red marks severely damaged buildings deemed unsafe to use, reported KhaoSod.
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