Published on January 12, 2005

The weakness of the present Building Control Act has once again been exposed, this time by the recent fire that caused the total collapse of a building on Rama VI Road, trapping several firemen and rescue workers. It is high time that the Building Control Act classify the design live loads of future buildings based on the planned activities in the buildings, like building laws do in most countries.

Properly designed and reinforced concrete buildings are normally able to withstand total collapse altogether, or at least sustain for about three or four hours, in the even of a fire. This building, reported to have been packed with auto parts and accessories on the upper floors, appeared to have collapsed within two hours after the fire broke out. While the fire ignited the problem, structural overloading was clearly the root cause of the collapse. It is a pity that these brave firemen lost their lives while trying to control the spread of the fire.

Like this building, many commercial buildings in Bangkok are commonly classified as “row-house buildings”. According to the present law, assuming that the upper floors of these buildings are used mainly for residence, the law only requires that they be designed to sustain a minimum live load of 200kg per square metre of the floor area. Once these buildings are built, their actual usage is at the discretion of the occupants. Row-house buildings are used for many different purposes, some of which result in overloading. Overloading these buildings could greatly reduce the well-accepted engineering standards of safety and pose a great risk to the occupants. Ironically, through ignorance, many occupants live in these over-stressed buildings.

In our culture, row-house buildings were an integral part of our urban development. If it is not possible to control the usage of these buildings, perhaps all row-house buildings should be designed to carry the maximum live loads among all possible usage, say, 400kg/sqm. This could increase the cost of row-house buildings by 5-15 per cent, but safety never comes free of charge.

For existing row-house buildings in which heavy materials are stored on the upper floors, it is suggested that all such materials be brought to the ground floor. If you have any doubt on the loading conditions of your building, you may contact any structural engineer or the Engineering Institute of Thailand – eit@eit.or.th – for further assistance.

Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, PhD,

Engineering Institute of Thailand

Bangkok

Men are also suffering

from their losses

Without doubt, some of the most heart-rending tales emerging from the devastation wrought by the tsunami involve orphaned children, such as the story of Wisut Somabut, who escaped death and injury with the aid of a bicycle [“King: Take Care of Orphans”, News January 4]. The psychological damage that Wisut, as well as countless other young victims have suffered, will probably linger well into their teen years and beyond, since their families have vanished before their eyes.

Alongside the pain that we feel for the children who have been suddenly thrust into a world without parents, one should remain cognisant that not all of the claims concerning the survivors should be accepted as even-handed. Unfortunately, several multinational child-protection organisations, notably Unicef, have been indulging in a commonplace public relations campaign that focuses squarely upon the age and gender of the survivors.

Initially we were informed that a disproportionate number of the tsunami deaths involved children rather than grown-ups. Now we’re being told, amid great apprehension verging on panic, that countless women and children are in danger of being victimised by rapists, traffickers, con men and paedophiles. If history is any guide, we’ll soon be reading unprovable statistics that “hundreds of thousands” of orphaned Asian children are now walking the streets, trying to avoid being ensnared by the adult male vultures. Surely we’ll hear often about the crying need for shelters to house the millions of homeless women and children who are “most vulnerable” to trafficking and abuse.

But, what have these organisations had to say about the men and older boys who have lost wives, children, mothers, siblings and age-mates in the disaster? The most strident advocates for women, children and nursing mothers seldom if ever speak about the psychological wounds of males who have had their heart and soul torn out by the loss of their home and families.

We should not forget that this once-in-a-lifetime cataclysm has ravaged the lives of people of every age, class, and religion. The commonplace emphasis on only one segment of the population is implicitly sexist and age-ist. The overriding factor to be considered here is human suffering. I would hope that the publicity-hungry organisations that regularly make one-sided allegations will remember that anyone and everyone who has lost his or her nuclear family is equally deserving of protection and healing.

Steve Prowler

Bangkok

Real-estate deals a shocking display of greed

I was appalled and disgusted to read your article “Profiting from tragedy: Foreigners look to scoop up land”, News, January 10.

In it you rightly informed us that certain foreign investors had tried to benefit from the death and destruction of the tsunami disaster. Certain persons are trying to buy land in Thailand at bargain prices.

How can any person, knowing what misery and upset this has caused to so many all round the world, even consider such a callous act? It is unforgivable, mean and without any respect for the hundreds of thousands who have lost their lives, their children and their livelihoods. Shame on you!

In addition to the shock that anyone should even stoop so low, I shudder to think that any Bangkok real estate agency would even involve themselves in such offers. They should be ashamed of themselves. As an ex-real estate agent myself, I know I would be!

Bob Horton

Bangkok

Measuring charity

against the costs of war

The tsunami that struck southern Asia, destroying countless lives and wiping out whole towns and families, has made us think again about what is happening in our world.

The death toll is rising at a daily rate and will easily overflow the 200,000 mark. We find this figure shocking. I suppose it’s because it happened in one day, and because of the 24/7 coverage by the media. The governments of the US and UK have so far pledged US$350 million [Bt13.8 billion] and £50 million [Bt3.7 billion] respectively to help the immediate needs. But let’s put this into perspective. The US is spending $354 million every two days in Iraq. The UK has spent an estimated £1.25 billion so far in Iraq.

On February 14, 2003, The Boston Globe ran a story referring to Beth Osbourne Daponte. Daponte was a Middle East analyst who was assigned to come up with an estimate for the total number of Iraqis killed. Her figure came out at 158,000, with another 70,000 dying of easily preventable diseases that were suddenly made lingering and lethal by the bombing by the United States and its allies of water and power supplies, sewage systems and roads.

So, the total figure is estimated at 228,000 Iraqis. And this figure was only for the 1991 war.

It has taken a natural disaster of catastrophic proportions to show us what really matters. The response of the people of the world has been to show great sympathy and charity to those affected. We must not stop now. The world has changed. 2005 is a new year. Let’s start saving lives and not let money get spent on taking them.

David J Watson

England

More people should be talking about U-tapao

The Thai political opposition, struggling to redefine its identity [“A very poor showing from the Democrats”, Editorial, January 10], is strangely silent on a critical issue that deserves vigorous discussion in the public sphere, even as the nation mourns: the Pentagon has returned in force to its old Vietnam War haunts at U-tapao Royal Thai Naval Air Force Base in Chon Buri.

Many Thais will concur that the terrible tragedy of the seaquake should not serve as some sort of subterfuge – or potential Trojan Horse – for strengthening the US military presence in this region. A number of Thailand’s neighbours in Asean will not be enthusiastic about the prospect of U-tapao revived under the Stars and Stripes.

Some American analysts believe that – wrapped in the guise of a major long-term aid and reconstruction package – the return to U-tapao base represents a significant bolstering of American military might in the area. Geopolitics doesn’t go away. It meshes well with a central aim of Washington’s evolving policy in this part of the planet.

As an article in The Nation entitled “Terror Offensive: US wants forward base here” [News, June 12, 2003] noted, the Pentagon’s interest in a base on Thai soil was broached in June 2003 during the prime minister’s visit to Washington.

The plan, now in full swing, is to set up a “command centre” for the tsunami emergency relief effort, with U-tapao air base as a kind of “regional hub”. The ongoing emergency relief operations provide a windfall geopolitical opportunity for Washington, part of the rapidly developing Pentagon strategy of “forward positioning” – establishing so-called “air cargo hubs” where American forces can stash equipment and enter and leave as desired.

Can this be in the longer-term interest of the Thai nation? Since military operations are inevitably hidden from public scrutiny, what can the Thai and American public hope to know about this renewal of a massive Pentagon presence a few kilometres south of Pattaya?

As many people will recall, during the Vietnam War, U-tapao functioned as a major staging base for B-52s carrying out bombing raids over North Vietnam (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/utapao.htm).

Thai citizens should ponder well whether this large-scale military redeployment is simply to maximise and coordinate “humanitarian aid” efforts. Many nations are sending relief of all kinds – but not their marines, navy and air force. The tragedy of the present devastation should not serve as a pretext for beefing up the US military presence from India to Indonesia, with the linchpin at Chon Buri’s southern tip. This deserves a full public airing and discussion here.

Bill Templer

Sikao, Trang

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