… In neighbouring Thailand, Hnin Nu Yee, was on the ground floor of the unfinished skyscraper that collapsed into a mound of crumpled steel and concrete…

Hnin is among millions of other workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos that labour in the Thai capital, Bangkok, often in the riskiest industries.

Trucks crammed with workers transport them from makeshift corrugated iron dormitories to office and mall construction projects around the sprawling city.

“I don’t know how many were trapped,” says Hnin. “I can’t say how many because so many Burmese (the old name for Myanmar) were working here.”

A man from the Bago region in Myanmar, who didn’t give his name, said he earned about 500 baht a day —about £10—as a construction worker on the building.

“We were working on about the third floor and when my whole body started feeling shaky and dizzy, I realized the earthquake was happening,” he said. “I jumped down and ran as fast as I could.”

Only four people out of the 11 people in his team have been found, he said.

Some engineers in Thailand are calling for greater scrutiny and an upgrade in building regulation standards and enforcement…