Thailand/Myanmar Earthquake: VIDEO Dramatic collapse of a high rise in Bankok 2

[human909]

I have no engineering commentary at this stage. But this does capture a near complete collapse:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1905511502435791007

https://twitter.com/x/status/1905515797234991340

 

[oldrunner]

Greg, maybe they need to design the sides of the pool to mimic a re-entrant combustion chamber so the water doesn't spill out to reduce the mass damping effect.

 

[oldrunner]

Viewed a very long apparently government report yesterday on Youtube. Cannot find it today. Very critical of the situation. Apparently AI composed as I have never seen such a complete report this soon. I searched YouTube and Perplexity for the report; maybe there are better sources some place. Some discussion on the quality of the rebar and the history of the construction. Interesting to note that this is a government building and lots of flat post tensioned slabs and sections.

 

[oldrunner]

Viewed a very long apparently government report yesterday on Youtube. Cannot find it today. Very critical of the situation. Apparently AI composed as I have never seen such a complete report this soon. I searched YouTube and Perplexity for the report; maybe there are better sources some place. Some discussion on the quality of the rebar and the history of the construction. Interesting to note that this is a government building and lots of flat post tensioned slabs and sections.

Found much interesting comments and discussions on X. Getting to be my go to source - but still being careful. Center core column structure and flat slab construction. Similar to construction in the 60's that I am familiar with.

 

[Sym P. le]

Video clip (half speed) of the south elevation, isolated at the left column/floor connection (higher resolution attached). Although this approach eliminates most indication of structural oscillation, it does show the significant east/west sway of the crane, and by inference, that of the structure.



If the core west elevation load path is compromised (fuchsia), the burden increasingly falls on the north/south elevations. The core pass-through configuration from floor to floor can create a scenario where that load is increasingly concentrated on a smaller support element at the lower floors, which would be the final point of failure prior to the collapse.

 

[BraunEHC]

Chinese Railway Intl Company facing investigations in Thailand. Interesting that this company was also involved in the concrete canopy collapse at the Novi Sad train station in Serbia in Nov 2024, claiming 16 lives.

Beijing censors news of Chinese-built tower's collapse in Bangkok

As Beijing silences mentions of the skyscraper building that collapsed in Bangkok, the Chinese company involved in the project faces mounting scrutiny in Thailand.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Sym P. le]

Best video of collapse initiation here on TikTok. More news on suspected corruption schemes here and here (Bangkok Post)


TikTok

 

[Sym P. le]

The tower structure and crane masthead appear to be a simple oscillating system, in other words the apparent location of the crane masthead indicates where the tower used to be. When the video is isolated on the tower structure, the crane appears to be moving independently but we know that it's not. Significantly we see the tower collapse as the crane leans furthest to the east (above animated GIF) (and I'll argue the movement is ovoid, ENE/WSW), so when the tower is most heavily imposed on the southwest corner of the core structure. If the tower carries its momentum past its breaking point, the direction of collapse is to the southwest which we see in the results.

I also see a mechanism for the south adjoining structure to transfer energy to the tower core via the N/S slab drop-downs (though the linkage is only at the center two tower supports) and likely took out the south tower supports after the core failed.

 

[JStephen]

It's not obvious that the building is moving that much in the video, until you notice those curtains/tarps alternately moving in and out.

 

[waross]

The tower crane is not stationery.
In one video it may be seen that the boom is flopping.

 

[Sym P. le]

It's definitely a dynamic environment up there. The sway of the crane could/would be amplifying the movement of the tower. A very sad situation. I noticed the curtains move as well.

 

[dik]

That core provided a huge eccentricity. In addition, there was almost no redistribution. Reinforcing may not have been as continuous as it could have been.

 

[Sym P. le]

From Facebook here, a review of the tower dynamic properties.

 

[Cool_Controls]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04...ngkok-building-collapse-in-thailand/105126796

 

[Diserian]

>Attention on the companies also intensified this week after four Chinese employees were caught removing documents from the site after the disaster.
>The men have already received suspended sentences of one month's jail for the crime of violating disaster zone laws.

Well that will show them.

As tragic as it is, at least it happened before the building was fully occupied.

 

[bones206]

The above article quoted a Thai structural engineering professor:

Videos of the building collapse showed the middle perimeter columns breaking first due to "horizontal forces" generated from the earthquake, said Professor Thai.

"This local failure has triggered the progressive collapse of the entire building that make it collapse very quickly like the 9/11 event in the US in 2021," he said.

"This comes from a poor design issue," he added.

Just reading between the lines here, it sounds like perhaps he's implying the gravity columns failed because they weren't properly designed to remain stable under seismic displacements. I could certainly see that being the case.

 

[Sym P. le]

If you view the east elevation videos in isolation, the central gravity columns fail first. Knowing the core failed first provides the context that the central gravity columns are proximal to the core relative to the corner columns and thus follow in succession from the core. The gravity columns were not the problem.

As I look over the debris photos, I see copious quantities of rebar laid out in an orderly fashion. Notwithstanding the rebar specification shortcomings, the entire structure appeared to spontaneously rupture after the initial event. Does this point to severe concrete property issues, especially within the core?

 

[JStephen]

A video on this building. I haven't been paying attention to the details, so not sure if there's that much new or different:

 

[epoxybot]

Investigators turn focus on collapsed Bangkok building's lift shaft walls

Investigators turn focus on collapsed Bangkok building's lift shaft walls

The decision to reduce the thickness of the walls of the elevator shafts at the new State Audit Office (SAO) building contributed to the building’s collapse, according to Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong.

www.bangkokpost.com

 

[Tomfh]

Glad to see they’re focussing on actual engineering causes not supposed corruption.

 

[Sym P. le]

From the article

Typically, he said, a shaft’s walls should be about 60 centimetres thick, but the ones at the SAO building were about 25cm thick.

Yeah, that might make a difference. Corruption can often result in such frivolities.