"We always have hope," he told reporters. "We're still working around the clock."
Chanpen Kaewnoi, 39, said she rushed over on Friday afternoon after seeing news reports that the under-construction building where her mother and younger sister were working had collapsed.
"I called my sister, but no matter how many times I tried to call her there was no connection," she said after a sleepless night at the site.
"I want to wait for my mother and sister," said Chanpen, herself a construction worker, "I want to see their faces again."
Across the sprawling metropolis, where such quakes are rare, there may be up to 5,000 damaged buildings, including residential towers, said Anek Siripanichgorn, a board member of Council of Engineers Thailand, which is helping municipal authorities.
"We are going through hundreds of cases," he said. "If we see cases where there is potential danger, we will immediately send engineers."
(Reporting by Bangkok Bureau, Shoon Naing, Wa Lone and Heather Timmons; Writing by John Mair and Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by William Mallard and Alex Richardson)
Thumbnail image credit to REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa.
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