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Published on July 26, 2007

Uprooted trees and power poles were also reported in other areas of Bangkok.

Bang Na district chief Krit Watcharasiritham said the 4x24-metre billboard fell on a motorcycle taxi stand and passers-by, leaving 10 people injured. All the victims were rushed to Bang Na Hospital.

The district office will contact the injured to provide them with assistance.

Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin, who later inspected the scene, said the collapsed billboard was not among 28 billboards earmarked for demolition by city authorities.

"This shows that every advertising billboard is at risk of toppling during storms, whether it is firmly installed or not," he said.

He urged people to call the 199 emergency service if such an accident occurred again during the current rainy season. 

He also said that the city would speed up the demolition of the 28 billboards deemed unstable, and work should be completed by this month's end.

Meanwhile, the city's Flood Prevention and Mitigation Centre reported that a rainstorm yesterday left five areas of inner Bangkok under 15cm to 20cm of floodwater.

A tree in Sukhumvit Soi 64 fell onto a house, while trees and power poles in Soi Phaholyo-thin 7 and Mitmitri Road near the Labour Ministry were felled by strong winds, the centre said.

The Meteorological Depart-ment warned residents of Bangkok and surrounding pro-vinces to expect one or two days of high gusts and thundershowers due to a confluence of southwesterly and southerly winds.

It also warned that the southwestern monsoon hovering over the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand would cause scattered rainfall in the Northern, Central, Eastern and Southern regions until the end of the month. Residents in flood- and landslide-prone areas were warned to be on alert.