Massive sinkhole opens up outside Bangkok hospital
An overview shows a sinkhole in the ground after a road collapsed near a hospital in Bangkok on Sep 24, 2025. (Photo: AFP/Chanakarn Laosarakham)
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BANGKOK: A massive sinkhole opened up in front of a hospital in Bangkok on Wednesday morning (Sep 24), prompting evacuations and road closures.
The sinkhole appeared at around 7.15am outside Vajira Hospital in the Dusit district of the Thai capital.
Photos and videos circulating on social media show the sinkhole affecting the entire width of the road, with a white truck at the edge of a steep drop.
AFP journalists observed a roughly 50m hole, pulling down power lines and exposing a burst pipe gushing water.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt told Thai media that the sinkhole was caused by a leak in a tunnel at a construction site for a new MRT station.
Suriyachai Rawiwan, director of Bangkok's disaster prevention department, told AFP at the scene that the collapse was likely linked to recent heavy rain and a leaky pipe.
"There was a leak in the water pipe - water from the pipe eroded (earth) under the road so this incident happened," he said, adding that there were no known casualties.
"The water that eroded brought some soil that dropped down to an under-construction subway station, causing the collapse," Suriyachai added.
Authorities said no injuries have been reported so far.
Patients and residents in the area were evacuated, reported The Nation.
It added that traffic has been closed from Vajira intersection to Sanghi intersection and the surrounding areas.
Vajira Hospital, a teaching facility for one of Thailand's top medical universities, said in a Facebook post it was suspending outpatient services, adding that they would "resume as soon as possible".
Noppadech Pitpeng, a 27-year-old hospital staffer who lives in a nearby building, said he was frightened by a rumbling sound on Wednesday morning that woke him up.
"The sound was like an electricity pole collapsing and my whole flat shook," he said, while carrying clothes in a large bucket out of his building.
Additional reporting by Saksith Saiyasombut
