Building and materials standards are literally 'worlds apart' compared to here, but it is a poor country and people use what is readily available and affordable, in the case normal houses and buildings of a couple of floors.
To be fair, most of them to seem to stand the test of time, and with correct treatment of wood and steel (as in window frames), those should last too.
It is the taller buildings that would worry me more.
In a normal house I wouldn't suggest our type of cavity wall, as it would soon be full of insects and vermin...as with the roof space.
Insulate certainly, but choice of materials is much more critical in the tropics where there are dozens of life forms seeking opportunities to munch on your home, conceal themselves within it, or both.
