Fatality spurs BMA to check billboards
More than 900 billboards across Bangkok will be inspected and if they are found to be unsafe, they will be torn down, Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said yesterday.
The measure was announced after Janya Suwannabut, a 50-year-old mason, was killed by a falling billboard on Rama II Road in Chom Thong district on Sunday. Heavy rain and strong winds toppled the billboard.
Manaphan Wisutthiphong was the billboard’s owner, police said.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has filed a police report against the owner and will rush to discover the cause of the incident, Sukhumbhand said after his inspection of the scene.
He has ordered the city’s 50 district offices to quickly to inspect all billboards, estimated at more than 900.
“If any of them are illegal, they will be demolished,” the governor said.
BMA executives would have a meeting today (Aug14) to discuss the safety and strength standards of billboards as well as laws against owners of illegal billboards, Sukhumbhand said. Officials will also aim to find ways to strengthen new and old billboards to prevent further accidents.
Sunday’s toppled billboard had received a permit in 2004 but its owner was still in the process of requesting a document guaranteeing its strength.
Janya’s head was broken when the billboard fell on her while she was fixing a company’s shop. She was rushed to Bangpakok 9 International Hospital, where she later died.
