Thai Engineers Criminally Sued Over Fatal Collapse of Giant Billboard by Phairath Khampha 30 June 2002 Police in Thailand filed a criminal suit on June 27, 2002 against three structural engineers in connection with the previous day's collapse of a giant billboard in Bangkok that left a seven-year-old girl brain dead and damaged 16 houses. The engineers were charged with violations of the building code and involuntary manslaughter. Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Jongrak Jutanont said detectives had upgraded the case to a homicide based on the medical report declaring the injured girl brain dead. She later succumbed to her injuries. Bangkok has several massive billboards that can be read from several kilometres away. Residents who live nearby to the huge, ugly structures often worry about their possible collapse as such signs are often owned by powerful businesses who seem to care little about the impact of their billboards on ordinary people. Following inspection of the scene of the collapse in Bang Na district, Maj General Jongrak said the billboard breached regulations limiting outdoor signs to 30 meters by 32m in dimension. But in classic Thai custom of viewing regulations and laws as simply an incovenient impendiment, the three engineers had tried to skirt the law by piecing together two structures to make a huge 47m-by-82m display, he said. The structural frame for the billboard was weakened by a lack of maintenance, a common occurence in Thailand because despite their wealth, rich business owners are loathe to spend money on unseemingly unnecessary maintenance of their structures, and massive load-bearing pillars were found missing several nuts and screws, he said. The victim, Sasithorn Luekrajangtham, remained in a coma in the intensive care unit. Kluay Namthai Hospital director Santipap Chaiwongkiat said Sasithorn was put on a respirator, as her brain was no longer functioning due to oxygen starvation for more than 30 minutes while she was rushed to the hospital. Eyewitnesses and Sasithorn's family members said the billboard had shown signs of deterioration for months. Although the deteriorating condition of the massive structure, taller than many large buildings in Bangkok, was noted, officials and the owner seemed not to be interested in ameliorating the situation. "Two months ago, a big bolt fell off the billboard's frame and damaged a car parked nearby," Pranee Pongsriket said. "It would have killed anyone it landed on." The bolt was 75 mm in diameter. Residents in the neighbourhood had lived in fear because the zinc-coated billboard often creaked and groaned ominously with every gust of wind as if it were going to fall apart, Pranee said. It could be heard making noises up to one kilometre away. Nong Ning succumbs to injuries Sasithorn Luekrajangtham never regained consciousness after the giant billboard collapsed on her during the storm and finally succumbed to her injuries the morning of June 29 at the tender age of seven. Doctors attending Sasithorn, nicknamed Nong Ning, at Bangkok General Hospital said she had died from an insufficient blood supply to her brain following complications of lung infection and inflammation of the brain. At her bedside in the intensive-care unit, her mother fainted several times after she was pronounced dead. Her father broke into tears and kept muttering while holding her in his arms that she be born as his girl again. The heartbeat of the girl, who had been in a coma since the accident, started to slow down at 6am. Her mother, who had been informed of her deteriorating prognosis, started praying for her life, a nurse said. Doctors tried to resuscitate her, but her heart stopped at 7am. Bangna district officials recently filed a police complaint over the billboard's building-code violations. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA)'s Public Works Department found that the structure was unauthorised. The owner had sought and received permits to erect two separate signs and then circumvented the law by using them to make one huge billboard, BMA building inspector Wallop Suwansuthorn said. Bangna police on June 29 granted bail to the engineer who designed the structure. He had turned himself in to police to face charges of negligence causing property damage and personal injury. Police said the families of the victims could sue the parties responsible for the accident for compensation.