“Bangkok would like to express condolences to the deceased and his family for falling into the manhole of the MRT Yellow Line project in the area of ​​Soi Lat Phrao 49. All agencies must improve their short-term, medium-term, and long-term measures because the old measures have been in place for a long time. A technology system must be brought in to monitor the standards of every manhole to increase safety for the public and increase the efficiency of the complaint system to be speedy.”

Mr. Narong Ruengsri, Deputy Permanent Secretary of BMA, revealed after chairing a meeting to follow up on measures to prevent accidents from unfinished manhole construction and resolve citizen complaints together with public utility agencies.

He said that today’s meeting was a joint meeting between public utility agencies including the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority, the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand, the National Telecommunications Company, related agencies, and Bangkok to discuss measures to prepare for prevention and correction, including making complaints in the Traffy Fondue system as efficiently and quickly as possible, and remedial measures for affected people. Initially, the Metropolitan Electricity Authority has prepared preventive measures including construction, and periodic inspection measures to determine if the condition of the manhole or any part of the construction work is not complete or unsafe. It was agreed that continuous work must be done to keep the manhole and road surface in perfect condition at all times.

The Metropolitan Electricity Authority has considered changing the design of the manhole cover that is not a steel cover and cannot be sold, but can support weight, is strong and safe, and has brought in AI technology. Currently, it is undergoing testing. For receiving complaints through the Traffy Fondue system, BMA has notified the MEA to take corrective action within 24 hours. The meeting agreed that various construction measures must be stable, strong, and safe, which are all guidelines that the agency has reported. Bangkok has been taken into consideration to improve the work process both before construction, during construction, and after construction to be more efficient. As for compensation for those who have been damaged, MEA has stated that it is pleased and ready to assist.

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