The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has downgraded the city’s disaster alert level from three to two, signaling a shift in the ongoing crisis management following last week’s earthquake in Myanmar.
This announcement, confirmed by officials as of April 1, 2025, reflects an assessment that the immediate threat to public safety has lessened, though vigilance and recovery efforts remain active.
The earthquake, registering a magnitude of 7.7 with its epicenter near Mandalay, sent shockwaves across Thailand, causing widespread structural damage in Bangkok. A prominent incident was the collapse of a 33-story building under construction in the Chatuchak district, which claimed lives and left many trapped. Initial reports indicate at least 18 fatalities in Bangkok alone, with rescue operations ongoing to locate survivors amidst the rubble. The BMA initially declared Bangkok a Level 3 disaster zone—a large-scale emergency—on March 28, mobilizing national and international resources to address the crisis.
The downgrade to Level 2 suggests that authorities believe the situation is stabilizing. This could mean that critical infrastructure, such as transportation and utilities, is being restored, and the risk of further immediate collapses or aftershocks has diminished.
Posts on social media and local news updates align with this, noting that the BMA, in coordination with the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), has assessed that the severity of the quake’s impact is under control in most areas. For instance, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra recently stated that the country is returning to normalcy, with only the Chatuchak collapse standing out as a major anomaly.
Despite the downgrade, search and rescue operations persist at the collapsed site, where signs of life had previously been detected. Family members remain hopeful, and the BMA continues to oversee efforts, supported by international teams from Japan and Singapore.
The focus also now includes damage assessments—over 6,000 reports of cracked buildings have surfaced—and an investigation into the collapse, with a committee tasked to deliver findings within seven days.
