A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar, causing strong tremors to be felt in many parts of neighbouring Thailand. A Singaporean woman who was in Thailand at the time shared her terrifying experience of escaping from the 23rd floor of her hotel while only wrapped in a bathrobe, reported Zaobao.
What Happened?
The Singaporean woman, Lee Yu Qing, 35, a musician, had just arrived at her hotel in Bangkok about an hour before the earthquake occurred. She was preparing to take a shower in her hotel room’s bathroom when she felt the tremors. In a panic, she wrapped herself in a bathrobe and rushed down the stairs from the 23rd floor to the outside of the hotel.
The hotel she was staying at is located above the large MBK shopping centre in central Bangkok. According to her description, she was about to shower when she noticed the bathroom door shaking violently, swinging open and shut. Fearing for her life, she quickly threw on her bathrobe and ran out of the room.
“I was guided to the stairwell, and everyone was running. Some people were crying, and there were even small pieces of brick falling in the stairwell,” she recalled.
Concerns About Her Students
Lee was in Bangkok to accompany her students for a competition. About three hours after the earthquake, she received confirmation that her students’ flight was not affected and they arrived safely in Bangkok as planned. The competition was scheduled to proceed as planned.
“When the door was shaking, I had a moment where I wondered if it was an earthquake. But I wasn’t sure because I come to Bangkok every year, and Thailand rarely experiences natural disasters like this,” she said.
Although her work trip would continue as planned, she decided to gather her friends who were also in Bangkok to stay together that night for safety.
Panic in Bangkok
A Thai woman named Book, 46, who works in the construction industry, was working at her office in the Sathorn Central Business District of Bangkok when she felt the tremors. “We first noticed the chandeliers were shaking, so we quickly used the stairs to get down from the 30th floor.”
She added that within five minutes of feeling the tremors, around 500 people in the building were evacuated to the ground floor.
“The roads in Bangkok were chaotic after the earthquake. I heard that the highways were closed, the subway system was also shut down, and traffic was heavily congested. There were ambulances on the road. We are still trying to find a way home,” she said.
As someone working in the construction industry, she noted that buildings in Thailand are not designed to withstand earthquakes because earthquakes are rare in the country. That could be why there was so much damage reported during this incident.
Singapore closely tracking developments
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has urged Singaporeans who are in the region to stay safe and follow local advisories.
In a Facebook post, PM Wong shared that Singapore is closely monitoring the situation in Myanmar and Thailand following the earthquake in Myanmar. He also advised Singaporeans who need help to reach out to the Singapore Embassies or contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MFA) 24-hour hotline.
Stay safe everyone!!
