During the lunchtime interval of a normal working day in Thailand the world began to wobble. It is an extraordinary experience to feel the power of mother nature first hand, and at about 1:30 pm local time last Friday that’s precisely what one experienced. Without any advance warning the whole world began to swing and sway, surreally gyrating in some weird yet terrifying way.
For a fleeting second there was paralytic confusion which immediately gave way to a realisation as to exactly what this was. It was an earthquake……somewhere. Were those of us caught up in this seismic event about to endure the full force of an often-devastatingly destructive phenomena? Or was it, as thankfully turned out to be the case, a tremor from a fault line shift “epicentred” some considerable distance away?
Regardless of location, severity, the quake itself triggered thoughts of survival.
You experience wave upon wave of differing thoughts. Fear, terror, self-pity too perhaps, yet instinctively you think only of your survival.
Visiting Thailand on such a regular basis, with this occasion being unquestionably more significant than others, usually allows me to witness a very different way of life to that with which we are familiar in Blighty.
Yet during this event common humanity magnificently revealed itself. There was no language barrier, there was no cultural impediment standing in the way of such a traumatic shared experience; there was a common sense of empathy and understanding.
Bangkok has been officially declared a disaster area by the city governor. There were initial reports of widespread structural damage to high rise buildings and city infrastructure.
Levels of damage have varied; in some case it was more severe in nature than others. One notable example was the collapse of a building under construction in the Chatuchak area of the city.
The video footage of this horrifying spectacle has been widely viewed around the world, with the simple truth being that lives have been confirmed lost already, almost inevitably for there to be an eventual higher death toll.
Efforts with recovery continue, with any hopes of further rescue fading with each passing hour.
In a city of 17million people, living on an average elevation of just one and a half metres, or less than five feet above sea level, meeting housing needs and managing the provision of services is challenging.
When I first came to this wonderful country 45 years ago the ambience and character of Bangkok was generally very different from what it is today.
For example, there was an extensive canal system which allowed people to move around from place to place by boat.
Now most of that has gone, covered over to make way for large high-rise blocks of condominiums and expansive shopping malls. Bangkok has morphed into a vast metropolis covering a huge geographic area.
It acts as a magnet for tourists from all over the world; many Thai people also seek economic opportunities and prosperity from this booming trade driven by the influx of so many foreigners with money to spend.
A bustling city, teeming with life, where the mingling of sights and sounds of such a vast multitude of people can be seen and heard wherever you go. Herein though, perhaps lies a problem. Friday’s tremor brought Bangkok to a standstill, literally.
The city’s public transport system was shut down; hundreds of thousands of people poured onto the streets to escape being trapped or worse, sparing little thought that they might be exchanging one danger for another.
After an earthquake followed by aftershocks, the last place anyone needs to be is surrounded by tall buildings, yet open spaces are at somewhat of premium.
The city’s roads were clogged, and it was gridlock, nothing was moving. Fear and trepidation were widely evident in Bangkok on Friday, which is a perfectly normal reaction in the circumstances.
A sobering thought comes to mind though, namely had the quake or tremor been felt more intensely in such a densely populated place like the Thai capital, or had it been more severe, then what would the emergency response have looked like?
What would the consequences have been for so many people? The answer to that question is actually too ghastly to contemplate.
As with any natural disaster there are lessons that can be learned. But perhaps the biggest lesson of all here is that we should never ever take the gift of life for granted.
