Thai prosecutors have indicted 23 individuals and companies, including prominent construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta and China Railway No. 10 (Thailand) Ltd., for their roles in the catastrophic collapse of a 30-storey State Audit Office tower in Bangkok. The disaster, triggered by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake centered in Myanmar on March 28, 2025, claimed at least 95 lives, mostly construction workers, and injured nine others, marking it as one of Thailand’s deadliest structural failures.
The under-construction high-rise, located on Kamphaeng Phet Road near Chatuchak Weekend Market, was the only building in Thailand to collapse during the quake, which killed over 3,700 in Myanmar. Investigations revealed design and structural flaws, including substandard steel bars from a Chinese-owned Thai factory, Xin Ke Yuan Steel, and narrower-than-standard columns, which compromised the building’s integrity.
The joint venture between Italian-Thai Development Co. and China Railway No. 10 (Thailand) Ltd., which began construction in 2020 with a 2.136 billion baht budget, faced scrutiny for corner-cutting and failure to adhere to earthquake-resistant standards.
Charges include professional negligence in design, supervision, and construction, as well as forgery and use of forged documents. Premchai Karnasuta, president of Italian-Thai Development, and Zhang Chuanling, local director of China Railway No. 10, are among the indicted, alongside designers, engineers, and seven other companies. Several defendants, including Premchai, surrendered in May and denied wrongdoing.
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The collapse sparked outrage, with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra ordering a probe into all China Railway projects in Thailand. An anti-corruption watchdog had flagged irregularities, including worker shortages and delays, before the disaster. With the case now in criminal court, Thailand awaits justice for the victims as public distrust in construction standards grows.
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