Heavy construction equipment is pictured at the site of an under-construction building collapse in Bangkok on March 29, 2025, a day after an earthquake struck central Myanmar and Thailand. [AFP]
Bangkok building collapse
Across the border in Bangkok, rescuers worked through the night searching for survivors trapped when a 30-storey skyscraper under construction collapsed, reduced in seconds to a pile of rubble and twisted metal by the force of the shaking.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt told AFP that around 10 people had been confirmed killed across the city, most in the skyscraper collapse.
But, up to 100 workers were still unaccounted for at the building, close to the Chatuchak weekend market that is a magnet for tourists.
"We are doing our best with the resources we have because every life matters," Chadchart told reporters at the scene.
Thermal imaging drones were deployed to seek signs of life in the rubble, and authorities believe they have seen indications from at least 15 people.
Bangkok city authorities said they would deploy more than 100 engineers to inspect buildings for safety after receiving over 2,000 reports of damage.
Up to 400 people were forced to spend the night in the open air in city parks as their homes were not safe to return to, Chadchart said.
While there was no widespread destruction in Bangkok, the shaking brought some dramatic images of rooftop swimming pools sloshing their contents down the side of many of the city's towering apartment blocks and hotels.
Even hospitals were evacuated, with one woman delivering her baby outdoors after being moved from a hospital building. A surgeon also continued to operate on a patient after evacuating, completing the operation outside, a spokesman told AFP.