Bangkok—
On November 8th, 2023, JS100Radio, Thai Broadcasting in Bangkok, reported that a truck allegedly carrying extensive amounts of clay sank under the street into an electrical and signal cable tunnel, in Sukhumvit 64/1, Bangkok.
The truck sank down amid tunnel covers and then popped out causing heavy traffic jams from 12:00 to late at night. There was one injured rider reported and a taxi was damaged as a result.
Subsequently, Mr. Chadchart Sittipunt, the Governor of Bangkok, conducted a field inspection with relevant agencies and found that the structures damaged were for electric and signal cables from the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA)and were in the process of working during the night. However, during the daytime, the tunnel would be covered for traffic normally.
As of press time, it is under investigation whether the truck allegedly carried beyond the weight limit of 25 tonnes or not.
Chadchart publicly stated that trucks shall not carry over 25 tonnes, however, from the incident, it was indicated that the truck may carry over 36 tonnes. In the future, a solid measure of controlling truck weight will be put into consideration in the Bangkok area.
The road maintenance would take up to 1 day to be able to operate normally.
Thai national media reported that during the relocation of the truck, a contractor reportedly dumped excessive clay back into a construction campsite before being weighed. However, Bangkok agencies had captured a video of the moment the truck went back to the campsite to dump the clay as evidence.
Chadchart then ordered the Bangkok team to inspect the campsite and suspended activities related to the incident. From this incident, whether the cause of the tunnel sinking came from the excessive weight from the truck or if the construction of the tunnel cover was not up to standard would be proved easily based on scientific principles, said Chadchart.
However, it was suspected the truck carrying an excessive weight limit may have been involved in bribery using stickers as a pass from being inspected by police officers.
To reveal the truth, the Metropolitan Police Division 5 arranged an investigation committee with police officers in the incident area to determine whether there was an act of neglect in performing duties or not.