Building collapses at Paknam, near Bangkok.

A woman was killed yesterday when part of a three storey building being constructed at the back of her house, fell on the roof.  It destroyed her house and severely damaged others next to it (see photos). The building that collapsed had three projecting concrete beams that were supporting a concrete floor.  Suddenly these beams broke off from the main structure, demolishing the jhouses belopw and leaving people trapped.

The woman was taken to hospital at Samut Prakan but died later in the day. Samut Prakan (commonly known as Paknam) is a thriving fish processing area about 36 kilometers from Bangkok. The demolished buildings lie in the Srinakarin neighbourhood, to the north east of Paknam;  a respectable working class part of the city. In all, twenty-two people were injured in the incident. 

When I visited this morning, one of the neighbours took me over the site so I could see how extensive the damage was. I watched the men on the roof inspecting the broken beams.  It seemed to me that they must have been faulty manufactures, to have broken off so easily.  But, I thought that the building had been situated far too close to the existing housing.  It appeared that the construction was being built over these houses. This kind of damage occurs frequently at construction sites in the Bangkok region, given that there are very poor planning laws.

A few years ago, a new hotel was constructed on the river bank.  It was occupied only for ten days before guests had to be  evacuated as cracks appeared in the structure.  The hotel has only recently been re-occupied by a new owner, Hilton Hotels. From what I know of other incidents like this, it is unlikely that the injured parties will get much compensation.  It is really up to the generosity or otherwise of the firm building the concrete structure. The families are unlikely to be able to afford legal action against the construction company.

As Dick Cheney would have said:  "Stuff happens to poor people in this neighbourhood".