Earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand.

[Myriad]

The framing of the building that collapsed in Bangkok was supposedly complete. It was ready for the installation of glass curtain walls, which had begun. This was not a WTC-tower-like design where the exterior walls would contribute significantly to the structural web; if it had been, the exterior walls would have been constructed along with the rest of the framing.

Information about the project was immediately deleted from the company's Web site. Four Chinese project managers were arrested trying to remove binders full of records and documents from the construction site.

Yes it was a strong earthquake but the site is 1000 km from the epicenter. Little damage occurred elsewhere in Bangkok. No doubt there were many other ongoing construction sites around the city; how did they fare?

It appears extremely likely that the tower collapsed because it was shoddy "tofu-dreg" construction.

The collapse in Thailand is only a small part of the overall disaster story centered on Myanmar, where the shaking was much more intense, damage was widespread, and access is still limited.

 

[William Parcher]

Death toll reported to exceed 3,000.

 

[Ranb]

My sister in law finally got her condo wall repaired and had the entire unit painted. Most of it was covered by insurance. The photo makes it appear as if it never even happened.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

There were no books or knick-knacks on the table or shelves before it happened?

 

[Ranb]

My sister in-law has (had) a metric butt-ton of books and magazines in her condo. I don't recall that anything fell out of the bookcase during the earthquake.

She packed up many of her books and magazines to donate prior to the contractor entering her condo to repair the crack and paint the walls. The photo on the first page was cropped to show not much more than the crack in the wall.

After my sister in-law retires from her accounting job in 10-ish years, she will move to her house near Korat. My wife and I will stay in the condo when we vacation for a several months at a time in Thailand. We will be paying her 10k to 15k baht each month for that privilege. I'll be encouraging her to further empty out her condo then. I think she wants to move all of her stuff to the house.

As long as my wife and I have a TV, modem, microwave, hot plate, refrigerator, rice cooker, bed and couch in the condo we will be fine.

 

[Ranb]

As far as I know, repairs to the condo my sister in-law lives in are complete, but the painting of the common areas seems to be on the back burner.