Engineers tasked with checking Bangkok’s leaning shophouses for structural issues

Photos of a row of the tilting shophouses were posted on Facebook on Sunday by Bangkokian Patai Padungtin sparking concern that the buildings could collapse at any time.

“Initial investigation showed no cracks in the buildings, though we believe there may be a problem with the foundation,” Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on Monday. “The city has therefore asked the institute, an impartial party, to find the cause, any structural weaknesses, whether the tilting of the buildings has stopped as well as estimate the danger to the public.”

The governor added that this is a serious issue as it involves the safety of residents and passers-by, while insisting that Bangkok officials will work with related parties to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.

The governor admitted that he did not visit this neighbourhood often, and thanked people for alerting the city to the problem via social media and the Traffy Fondue application.

On Monday, he also tasked deputy governor Wissanu Subsomphon to personally notify the families living in the buildings about the investigation by engineers and ease their safety concerns.

Weerawit Triprasitthiphol, chief of Phra Khanong district’s civil engineering division, said the row of shophouses had been checked by the Thai Asset Management Corporation in 2017, which concluded that the tilting has stopped and posed no danger to surrounding buildings. Meanwhile, residents in the area have only ever lodged complaints about water drainage, never about the tilting, he said.