The director-general of the Department of Highways has ordered a rapid investigation into the collapse of scaffolding onto Rama II Road in Samut Sakhon province on Sunday afternoon.

The director-general said that apart from the investigation, he also ordered officials to check and secure all steel scaffolding along the highway.

The elevated road is being built for a distance of 81 kilometres above Rama II Road from Bangkok via Samut Sakhon and Samut Songkhram to Ratchaburi province.

The collapse of the 14-metre-high scaffolding happened on the Bang Khunthian-Ban Phaeo section of the elevated motorway project in Samut Sakhon, at 3.17pm on Sunday. The scaffolding fell on the Bangkok-bound side but nobody was injured.

Officials cleared the debris and reopened the highway section at 3.45pm.

Construction along Rama II Highway – which has dragged on for years – was suspended from April 11 to 17 for travellers during the Songkran Thai New Year festival.

Rama II Road is a main highway to the South but motorists have expressed concern about safety.

In July 2022, a U-turn bridge beam fell in Samut Sakhon. In May last year a concrete slab fell, killing a worker. In January a crane basket fell, killing one construction worker and injuring another.