The wheelchair ramp slope degrees are clearly set by law, but a ramp’s safety also depends on other details — like a manhole cover in its middle.
We all remember the news of people falling into manholes. Sidewalk works with a cover in the middle — I’ve seen these for a while and they shocked me. Today I’ll write about it.
The problem we keep seeing isn’t only a misplaced cover — it’s design’s most basic element: safety. A ramp exists to give access, but a cover mid-ramp turns the safest spot into the riskiest🤬
Thailand🇹🇭 — the answer is already in the law. It’s a rule for buildings, but good practice like this can be used anywhere; nobody objects.
Ministerial regulation on building facilities B.E. 2548, amended (No. 2) B.E. 2564: floor drains need tight covers, gaps in the grating no wider than 1.3 centimetres (16(2)); unavoidable obstacles must be in one line, not blocking the walkway, and give 30 centimetres’ warning by tactile paving or a barrier (16(4)); ramps must be non-slip, no steeper than 1:12 (about 4.8 degrees), runs no longer than 6 metres, landing 1.5 metres (8).
Covers still sit mid-ramp today. A man fell into a 15-metre-deep cable manhole at Soi Lat Phrao 49 in 2024 (B.E. 2567), covered only with plywood. On Sukhaphiban 7 Road, Phai Khiao community, Village 6, Chiang Rak Noi, Bang Pa-in, 138 concrete covers along 1,650 metres stood 4–6 centimetres above the road, taking half a lane. A 50-year-old vendor said many motorcycles fell because riders couldn’t see them and thought the road was still flat.
The BMA Drainage Department admits most covers lie on sidewalks, and covers not flush with the surface are a systemic problem needing several agencies. The fix is still reactive: repair damaged covers within 3 days of finding them. If nobody finds them, you’re on your own🥴
Safety problems in design have numbers you can measure. The Department of Disease Control reports that in 2024 (B.E. 2567), 1,504 people aged 60 and over died from falls, with state costs around 2,600 million baht a year.
Three levels must move together:
1️⃣ Policy: get serious — the BMA told contractors to delay opening construction areas and fix danger points.
2️⃣ Contract terms: the Ministry of Finance regulation B.E. 2560 sends the scope of work through a committee, but nothing states clearly where manhole covers must be.
3️⃣ Law: penalties tie mainly to buildings and highways — Section 291 gives up to 10 years in prison for negligence causing death. In Thai working culture, this needs urgent fixing.
Ramps aren’t only for wheelchair users — everyone can use them, and they’re easier than stairs.
Safety is the first requirement of design work, and it can’t be negotiated.
Don’t build a city you live in with dangerous spots.
Sources:
• Ministerial Regulation on Facilities in Buildings for Persons with Disabilities and Older Persons B.E. 2548 and (No. 2) B.E. 2564 (combined) — Clause 16(2) drainage covers must be tight, grating gaps no more than 1.3 centimetres; Clause 16(4) obstacles must be in the same line and detectable 30 centimetres ahead; Clause 8 (amended by (No. 2) B.E. 2564) slope no steeper than 1:12 (about 4.8 degrees), runs no longer than 6 metres, landing 1.5 metres; Clause 8(6)(7) ramp edges without a wall must have a raised kerb at least 10 centimetres high with handrails and guardrails, and ramps 1.8 metres or longer must have handrails on both sides — https://download.asa.or.th/03media/04law/fubr/a7_bcmr58e-64.pdf
• Department of Disease Control, Division of Injury Prevention — data on older people falling, 2024 (B.E. 2567): 1,504 deaths and state costs around 2,600 million baht per year — https://ddc.moph.go.th/dip/news.php?news=23567&deptcode=
• Thai PBS — man dies after falling into a 15-metre-deep manhole; cover was only plywood, Soi Lat Phrao 49 — https://www.thaipbs.or.th/news/content/339682
• Daily News — concrete manhole covers raised in the middle of a lane, Sukhaphiban 7 Road, Phai Khiao community, Village 6, Chiang Rak Noi subdistrict, Bang Pa-in district — https://www.dailynews.co.th/news/4638850/
• BMA Drainage Department (via ThaiPR.NET) — acknowledgement of the manhole-cover problem along sidewalks and the measure to repair damaged covers within 3 days — https://www.thaipr.net/general/3520135
• Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (via ThaiPR.NET) — instructing contractors to slow the opening of construction areas and fix danger points on sidewalks — https://www.thaipr.net/general/3570591
• Ministry of Finance Regulation on the Procurement and Management of Government Supplies B.E. 2560 — requirement for the terms of reference (TOR) to pass a committee — https://finance.rmuti.ac.th/pr/cgd-2560.PDF
• ThaiDeka — Criminal Code Section 291, negligence causing the death of another person — https://deka.in.th/laws/pc/291
• Accessibility Is Freedom — Safety Standards issue — https://accessibilityisfreedom.org/category/ประเด็น-ปัญหา/มาตรฐานความปลอดภัย/