Thai prime minister Ms Paetongtarn Shinawatra yesterday announced a thorough investigation into the approval, design, and materials involved in a 32-storey, under-construction office tower in Bangkok that disintegrated in Friday’s Myanmar earthquake – the only building, complete or under construction, to collapse in the capital that day.
Today, the toll of dead construction workers rose to 15, while around 72 are still trapped under the rubble.
She blamed technical errors at the building, and said efforts are intensifying to restore Thailand’s international reputation for safe building and seismic standards, Bangkok Post reports.
Separately, the prime minister has ordered government agencies to investigate all construction projects awarded to China Railway No.10 Engineering Group, a local subsidiary of China’s state-owned China Railway Group, Thai Nation reports.
The tower was being built in the Chatuchak district for Thailand’s State Audit office (SAO) by a joint venture of China Railway No.10 and Thailand’s Italian-Thai Development.
Work on the $61.4m (2.1 billion baht) tower started in 2020 and was scheduled to complete next year, although an SAO official has said it was delayed.
China Railway No.10 is involved in other government projects in Thailand, including a building for the Office of National Water Resource and sections of the Bangkok-Nong Khai high-speed railway, Thai media report.
Substandard steel?
Prime minister Paetongtarn also announced a probe into allegations of substandard steel being used in the SAO building.
This comes after Thailand’s Industry Ministry told press that a sample of steel taken from the site had failed a quality test at the Iron and Steel Institute of Thailand.
The steel in question came from a factory in Rayong that the ministry had ordered closed in December. A spokesperson said the steel was probably purchased before the closure.
The ministry started a crackdown on steel plants six months ago, shutting seven down so far.
Bangkok Post reports that the company, Xin Ke Yuan Steel, was registered in 2011 with nine Chinese nationals owning an 80% stake.
“Many of these factories used an old production process and equipment relocated from China. This has led to sub-standard steel,” Industry Minister Akanat Promphan told Reuters.
Trespassers sentenced
Meanwhile, four Chinese employees of China Railway No.10 have been sentenced to one month in prison – suspended – and an $88 fine (3,000 baht) for entering the site of the collapse after it happened, without authorisation, to retrieve documents.
They told police they needed the documents for an insurance claim.
They pleaded guilty to violating articles of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act and Article 83 of the Criminal Code, reports Nation Thai.
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