Experiencing an earthquake tremor in Bangkok

Author: Jocelyn Lee. The author worked in the financial district of Bangkok. She accounted for her experience of a tremor from an earthquake in Myanmar on 28 March 2025 at noon.

Singapore is sheltered from natural disasters by its neighbouring countries, and it was my first time experiencing an earthquake in Bangkok. I did not expect Bangkok to have earthquakes, and neither did my native colleagues.

I was walking around a supermarket connected to my office building on the ground floor after having my lunch when I felt swaying. Initially, I thought that I was dizzy but decided to try to make my way back to the office. On the way out, I saw the staffs asking everyone to evacuate. I still did not think much of it but when I exited, I still felt tremors. I followed the crowd to opposite the office building.

My Thai colleague called me and explained that it was an earthquake in Myanmar and this was a tremor from it, asking where I was and told me to stay put while she looked for me. Another colleague who was in the office helped me take my bag and laptop, before making her way down when the tremors stopped. While waiting, it felt scary as the building had cracks (later deemed as cosmetics cracks, the structure was not affected) and we were wondering if the building would collapse. The air also felt tense and thick.

I immediately messaged my family and partner to let them know what happened in case they got worried when the news broke out and that I was safely out of the building.

My colleagues who were in the office felt the swaying for more than 5 minutes. One Filippino colleague who experienced earthquake said that this duration was longer than usual and it was scary. They also heard squeaking sounds.

Once our colleagues gathered, we tried to get water from the 7-11 nearby and the staffs just gave out the bottles that they managed to bring outside the shop. I felt that it was a really nice gesture as the weather was really hot and we did not know how long we had to be outside for. We decided to make our way to a nearby park away from the high-rise buildings as the news reported an aftershock in Myanmar at 2.30pm local time.

We waited for over an hour or so at the park to make sure there were no further tremors, before making plans on how to get home. While waiting, my other Thai colleagues were looking after me since I am alone in Bangkok, and one of them carried over a bench for me and another colleague to sit on. Many of my local colleagues were taking care of each other, offering whatever food they had and water, trying to make light of the situation. They were passing cream puffs around – one of their priorities was not to leave food behind when they evacuated. Those with motors or cars offered to send others home. 

At some point, I lost internet connection and landlines were not stable. I was struggling to stay in contact with my family and partner and I felt scared. What was going to happen if my building had a damage? Is my house alright to still stay in? My passport was in my house, how do I get home to Singapore if I need to? I managed to still get my brother to send me Singapore MFA’s contact numbers in case, which I should have saved early on. For almost an hour, I could only receive Instagram and WhatsApp messages but I could not load/respond. 

Because everyone was trying to get home, the roads were a lot more congested than usual and BTS was not operating. Some colleagues were stranded and had to stay with another colleague, while some of us walked home. I stay ~2.6km from the office and took about 40 minutes to get home, while another colleague had to walk ~10km. I walked with 2 colleagues and they were taking care of me along the way, making sure I felt alright and trying to shelter me from the sun as I was sunburnt (I immediately got sunblock the next day via Grab Mart!). 

Thankfully the 8-storey building that I am staying in did not sustain any damage, while many high-rise condos had damages and some are unhabitable. Also, many of my friends and colleagues in other countries reached out to me to check in with me subsequently, which I felt thankful for. 

The first thing I did when I reached home was to put my passport in my handbag in case I needed to evacuate again, and I could maybe just try to fly home to Singapore. Life returned to normal almost 1-2 days later, and it just felt really weird as if the quake never happened. I still do not know what to make of the situation, but life goes on!

 

 A high-rise building under construction in the Chatuchak district, Bangkok, collapsed following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that hit Myanmar on 28 March 2025. Photo credit: mothership.