Din Daeng flats 'an earthquake risk'

DIN DAENG Flats are an earthquake risk as the buildings are old and have undergone improper enlargement, the Engineers’ Institute of Thailand (EIT) warned yesterday.

A team of engineers led by EIT president Professor Suchatvee Suwansawat went to Din Daeng Flats in Bangkok’s Din Daeng district yesterday at the request of residents to inspect the 32 buildings’ safety – and determine it is worth renovating them.

The study will take four months, then the results and academic opinions will be handed to the Din Daeng Community renovation project committee to let its members from the National Housing Authority (NHA) and residents at the flats decide on what to do.

But the head of the EIT civil-engineering department, Anek Siriphanishakorn, warned that the buildings would suffer great damage if there were a powerful quake near Bangkok, as many cracks and enlargements were found during the inspection. This was because of “the buildings’ age and the fact they were not built to resist an earthquake”, he said. 

“There is also potential that Bangkok will be hit by an earthquake from the nearby Si Sawat Fault, as the earth layer beneath Bangkok is soft and could bolster the force of a quake,” he said.

Suchatvee said that from his observation of the buildings’ exterior, the structure of most was not good, but at the moment he could not say if they were safe or not.

“I found many cracks on the walls and ceilings, which indicates a problem with the building structure. I saw some cracks that revealed the steel inside, which showed that the steel rods were rusted, and that causes the building to take less weight.”

It was worrying to find buildings in this condition, but he was not surprised considering the flats were more than 50 years old and many improper room enlargements were done.

“Normally a concrete building can last more than 100 years but there are many factors that lower its lifetime such as lack of maintenance, unplanned enlargements, building misuse, and disaster,” he said.

EIT secretary Siriwat Chaichana said three inspection processes would be done. The first phase was a visual inspection and measuring the strength of concrete, while Phase 2 would be an in-depth inspection. The last phase would be an assessment on whether it is worth renovating the buildings. The process would take four months.

Despite the engineers’ concerns local inhabitant Kittiya Saepour said she felt safe living in her flat and had no intention to move to a new place.

“I have lived here for more than 30 years and everything is fine. I am not concerned about the building as my flat is still strong,” Kittiya said.

But another resident, named Euod, said the building was actually very weak. 

“My flat on the fourth floor often shakes when a big truck drives by. I can’t imagine what would happen if an earthquake struck. Therefore, I want to move to the new Din Daeng Flats, as per the NHA proposal,” Euod said.