Bangkok: Academics recommend that the government's urgent mission is to inspect basic structures for public safety. They pointed out that if there are not enough officers, they should join forces with the "private sector" and supervise. They stated that the Building Control Act requires building designers to take earthquakes into account. If the law is strictly followed, the damage will not be too great.
According to Thai News Agency, Assoc. Prof. Sayan Sirimontri, a lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Thammasat University (TU), revealed that after the earthquake until now, there have been quite a few aftershocks, so we can be confident to some extent. What the government must urgently do next is to mobilize personnel and officers to inspect the damage of all basic structures that people use in their daily lives, including roads, expressways, rail systems, electric train systems, telecommunications systems, telephones, internet, water pipes, airports, runways, and water pipes that may be contaminated in the water. Most importantly, the structures of dams throughout the country are not damaged or not. This is so that people can use them safely.
Assoc. Prof. Sayan said that when a disaster occurs, the personnel of government agencies responsible for these infrastructures may be limited and may not be sufficient. Therefore, it is proposed to invite private sector entrepreneurs with specialized expertise to conduct a complete and comprehensive inspection. If damage is found, it should be repaired. In this situation, the role of the government should be to supervise the private sector, rather than doing everything by itself.
Assoc. Prof. Sayan continued that the impacts from the earthquake are at various levels, including those that do not cause problems, moderate, and severe. If it is found that there is only minor damage, the area should be opened for people to live and work as usual, and then gradually repaired. However, if the damage is moderate to severe, access to the area should be temporarily suspended until the renovation is complete. The government should also distribute correct information at regular intervals so that the public does not panic too much.
The Thammasat academic added that lessons learned from this incident are that the government should have long-term measures to communicate to the public about what to do during an earthquake, such as what shelter to seek, whether to lie under a table to prevent something from falling on the body, because in reality, if the building structure is not strong and the earthquake is severe, it will be impossible to escape in time. In some cases, trying to escape may cause injury or be more risky than staying still.
However, after the amendment of the Building Control Act (No. 4) B.E. 2550, which added contents to the design and construction process, safety in the event of an earthquake must be taken into account, and the law has been continuously revised up to the present, including the determination of earthquake-risk zones nationwide. As a result, buildings constructed after 2550 must comply. If the entrepreneur has the designer strictly follow the law, the damage will be minimal or not severe. Fortunately, during the earthquake, most buildings were still strong enough not to collapse immediately. There may be minor to moderate damage. The strength can be inspected, assessed, and repaired or reinforced to restore the structure to its original use.
In the case of the collapse of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) building, Assoc. Prof. Sayan said that it is still not possible to conclude quickly what caused it. Possible causes include structural design errors, but designers of new buildings must consider the impact of earthquakes. Failure to consider this is considered illegal. Another issue is the imperfection of the substandard construction process, which is something that still needs to be proven. Therefore, he does not want the public or society to rush to a decision in any direction.