Entire ‘neighborhood on stilts’ at risk of collapse
A 24-year-old Burapha University student drowned when her family’s home collapsed into the sea in Sattahip.
Sawang Rojana Thammasathan rescuers pulled the body of Boonyanutch Buasatien from the water under the Pratueng Bridge Aug. 22 following the collapse of the wooden home built on pillars about 30 meters offshore by Leab Chay Beach Road.
Boonyanutch’s mother, Sirikorn Buasatien, 62, brother Warin and his 7-year-old daughter sustained minor injuries in the accident.
Warin told police that the house was 40 years old and that everyone was at home around 1 a.m. when they heard a loud cracking noise below the floor. The family evacuated, but Boonyanutch went back into the home, saying she’d forgotten some important item.
The family chased after her just as the supports broke and the house crashed into the sea. The three family members escaped, but the university student drowned trying to escape.
Sattahip District Chief Klitsanapan Dejkrut and his wife, along with Sattahip Temple Abbot Tatsaneeyakunakorn visited the grief-stricken family following the accident.
The abbot, who heads the district’s Buddhism Council, led a group of monks from 25 temples and monasteries to pay condolences to the family, presenting them with 100,000 baht to rebuild, along with a bag of consumer products.
Tatsaneeyakunakorn also offered to host a three-day funeral for Boonyanutch that began on Aug. 26 at Sattahip Temple.
Klitsanapan, meanwhile, said both Sattahip District and Chonburi Province would be providing financial aid for the family to start over and that Sattahip Mayor Narong Bunbancherdsri had already launched an investigation into the collapse and whether the home could be rebuilt.
The district chief said Boonyanutch’s home was part of a small neighborhood of houses all built on stilts in the sea. All were decades old and none have been properly maintained.
One nearby home had collapsed a month ago and Klitsanapan said the Buasatiens’ next-door neighbors have been told to evacuate due to fears their home could collapse as well.
The stricken family said they are staying with relatives on dry land as they get back on their feet.
