A Mathayom 1 (Level 7) student on a school outing shrieked in horror as her right leg disappeared into a narrow hole as she stepped off a curb onto Phitsanulok Road, opposite Gate 4 of Government House, at about 11.30am yesterday.
The 13-year-old was left sitting on the roadside with her leg trapped in the hole -- up to her thigh -- for about one hour.
Rescuers from the Ruam Katanyu Foundation used a road drill to enlarge the hole and finally free her leg.
The student -- whose name was withheld -- was walking with her classmates from Panyaworkun School in Bang Khae district on a field trip to the Anti-Corruption Museum inside the grounds of the National Anti-Corruption Commission nearby, a rescue official said.
Although shaken, she was only slightly injured, but was taken to Phetkasem 2 Hospital as a precaution, the official said.
Bangkok has long had an unenviable reputation as a city where people fall into open or poorly closed holes on pedestrian walkways and roadsides. Even a road outside Government House is not entirely safe for pedestrians.