Road crews this afternoon are rushing to fill and fix a hole that opened in Rama IV Road large enough to swallow a man.
Images from the scene showed at least two men hopping into the hole near the headquarters of the electricity authority – that large new building that looks like a power pylon – in the Khlong Toei district. Social media was passing them around apparently impressed by the spacious size of the hole beneath its 1-meter opening.
Traffic has been impacted since about 2pm, as it has shut down a lane of traffic while repairs are made.
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The cause of the hole wasn’t specified, but parts of Bangkok regularly collapse due to subsidence as the aquifer is eroded by pumping out groundwater. Believe it or not, sex is to blame for a large amount of that illegal pumping for use supplying absurd amounts of water to the capital’s soapy massage parlors.
Several minutes after traffic news site JS100 shared images of the incident, city flood control engineer Sunsern Rueangrit added photos of the hole being filled in, saying workers have determined it to be 3 meters across by 5 meters long and 1 meter deep.
They hope to complete the work before the evening rush begins.
กรณีหลุมยุบบนถนนพระราม 4 หน่วยงานกรุงเทพมหานคร เข้าตรวจสอบแล้ว ปากหลุมกว้าง 0.80 ม.แต่ใต้ผิวจราจร เป็นโพรงกว้างประมาณ 3.00 x 5.00 ม. ลึก 1.00 ม. ขณะนี้อยู่ระหว่างซ่อมแซมผิวจราจร คาดแล้วเสร็จช่วงก่อนเลิกงานวันนี้ 🙂 pic.twitter.com/Zsx2BT1WIS
— สรรเสริญ เรืองฤทธิ์ (@sunsernr) August 19, 2019
It might be futile, if there’s any truth to a 2015 study that the capital is sinking fast and will be reclaimed by the sea in a surprisingly short amount of time.
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That sinking feeling: Bangkok going down (redux)
Rama IV sinkhole baffles experts
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