CityNews — Officials from the Chiang Mai Department of Public Works (DPW) revealed their inspection results following the Chiang Rai earthquake, and deemed the buildings in Chiang Mai to be safe for occupants.
Somwang Boonrayong, Director of Chiang Mai DPW told reporters that the their workers had inspected tall buildings and buildings reported to be damaged by the 6.3 magnitude earthquake on May 5th in Chiang Rai. Those buildings included Nakorn Ping Hospital, Airport Plaza Mall, and various hotels. The officials found that the main structures and building stabilities had all remained 100% safe. They used state-of-the-art equipment to survey Wat Phra That Doi Suthep and did not find any displacement.
The DPW has issued letters to local officials on emergency procedures for earthquake disaster. They ask local offices to strictly enforce the 1979 Building Codes Act, especially in structural designing, construction supervising to allow for natural disasters such as earthquakes. The DPW will hold seminars for local construction worker unions about obtain building permits, steel structure reinforcements and concrete crack inspections, for example.
“The DPW can only inspect the buildings per owner’s request. If any business owners are concerned about their building’s integrity and safety, they can call the Chiang Mai DPW at 053 112334.” said Somwang.
Krisin Oonjaijin, head of Archeology at the 8th Regional Office of Fine Arts Department Chiang Mai, announced that the inspection results of historical buildings around the city are positive. Some had suffered minor damages to almost no damage. Wat Kitti, near Anuban Chiang Mai School, sustained minor damage to the pagoda’s decoration but none to the structure. Many pagoda tips at Wat Phra Sing tilted slightly which should not be difficult to repair. There are cracks formed at Wat Pan Tao’s Buddha statue and pillars. The Chiang Mai National Museum also has some cracks on its buildings.