Small shakes kept hitting Bangkok on Friday, March 28, 2025, after a massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake from Myanmar rocked the city. People ran from tall buildings, scared and confused, as the ground wouldn’t stop moving. A 33-story tower collapsed, killing seven—and now, everyone’s asking what comes next. It started just after noon. The quake hit near Mandalay, 600 miles away, but Bangkok felt it hard. A building near Chatuchak Market—still under construction—crashed down, trapping dozens of workers. Then came the aftershocks, including one at 6.4 magnitude, making things worse. By night, people were too afraid to go back indoors.
Tom Beeston, a British resident, was in his office on the 31st floor when it hit. “It was weird, like nothing I’ve felt,” he told the BBC. He hid under a desk with coworkers, then ran down the stairs with hundreds of others. “It went from confusion to panic fast,” he said. Outside, the streets were packed—cars stuck, people standing around, watching buildings sway. Chris McNair, another Brit, was at home with his girlfriend and cats. “Debris fell like a hailstorm,” he said. A stone hit his girlfriend as they ran out. “We thought the whole place might collapse.” It didn’t—but they’re not going back inside yet. BBC reporter Bui Thu felt it too, while cooking at home. “I was so nervous,” she said. “Water splashed out of pools, walls cracked, people yelled.” Bangkok’s used to floods, not earthquakes. Most buildings here aren’t built to handle shaking, and it showed. Mick O’Shea, an Australian filmmaker, saw fist-sized rocks fall from a café. “If one hit you from 20 stories up, you’re gone,” he said. A car nearby was crushed. Amy Clayton, a teacher, said kids in her school cried and had panic attacks as staircases broke apart.
The city came to a halt. The SkyTrain and subway shut down, leaving only buses. Roads turned into parking lots—people stuck at work or stranded at closed stations. Ride apps like Grab surged to four times the usual price, if you could even get one. Governor Chadchart Sittipunt opened city parks overnight, bringing in water and toilets—but it didn’t stop the fear. Aftershocks kept coming. One at 8 p.m. shook windows again. “Every noise feels like another quake,” said Krit, a 27-year-old designer, smoking outside his condo. Nittaya, a mother, held her six-year-old tight. “She keeps asking when it’ll shake again,” she said. “I don’t know what to tell her.”
Rescue teams kept working through the night at the collapsed tower, pulling one person out alive by dark. But for most in Bangkok, it’s about waiting—out in the open, away from walls that might fall.