A taxi driver and his passenger were safe but shocked when a canal-side road they were on suddenly subsided in Pathum Thani province on Monday.
The incident happened on Leab Khlong 14 Road in tambon Bung Nam Rak of Thanyaburi district around noon.
The eight-metre-wide road subsided some two metres deep and about 80 metres long and the taxi was found trapped in the descended section.
Driver Boonlorm Pongsamran, 54, said he was two kilometres away from his passenger's destination when the slightly cracked road where he was on suddenly slid towards the nearby canal. His taxi fell and could not be driven up.
He and his passenger ran out of the vehicle before contacting police, Mr Boonlorm said.
Phakphum Phansamdaeng, a highway official of Pathum Thani, said the road ran along a dry canal on one side while a full ditch of an orchard lined the other side. He believed that water pressure from the ditch pushed the road to slide toward the dry canal.
Another nearby local canal-side road, Leab Khlong 13, subsided for 120m in Thanyaburi district last Tuesday.
In adjacent Ayutthaya province, sporadic subsidence in about 100 locations was reported on 20km-long Ban Krod-Ban Pho Road in tambon Ban Krod of Bang Pa-in district on Monday.
The road was lined by irrigation canals on both sides. Boonsong Phakhadej, deputy mayor of tambon Ban Krod, said that the subsidence apparently resulted from water shortages in both canals.
On Sunday, around 100m on Leab Khlong Lam Ree Road in Nonthaburi province subsided.
The five-metre-wide concrete road was built and handed over last month. It runs along the presently shallow Lam Ree canal in Bang Bua Thong district.
Workers start to repair Leab Khlong Lam Ree Road in Bang Bua Thong district, Nonthaburi, on Monday (Photo by Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)
