Myanmar Quakes & Bangkok Shakes: Thoughts on the March 28 Earthquake [S7.E65]

Greg and Ed address the unavoidable topic du jour: the earthquake
that struck Myanmar on March 28 that was felt all the way to
Bangkok. Greg begins by pointing out that even though much ink
and many words have already been spilled on the topic, listeners
may be concerned about traveling to Bangkok now or the safety of
Bangkok's buildings in general. They guys decide to do their
civic duty and chime in.


First, they relate their personal stories - Ed was at home first
thought he was getting dizzy (and old) but after realizing it was
an earthquake mainly went about his day as normal. Greg was in
his office when it hit, and he and his colleagues calmly
evacuated the building. Subsequently, they both experienced the
insane traffic conditions - Ed took an hour and 45 minutes to get
from Khao San to Thong Lor and Greg took almost three hours to
get from his office in Hua Mak to his home in Thonburi. Ouch!
Lesson: when the BTS and MRT shut down, stay off the roads as
much as possible.


The guys then consider the government's response to the event and
the durability of Bangkok's buildings. Ed notes that while a
single building collapsing certainly is a tragedy, he is
surprised many more didn't go down given how old some Bangkok
neighborhoods are. Greg points out that Thai people in general
are quite good at remaining calm in a crisis, given the number of
floods, coups and riots they have been through. Last, at least
for now, the Thai government seems to be taking very seriously
the task of figuring out exactly why one building did collapse
and determining who is to blame. 


Both guys agree Bangkok appears to be as safe as ever. :)



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