A 33-story building under construction in Bangkok, Thailand, collapsed as a result of the aftermath of an earthquake that hit Myanmar. It was revealed that a subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned enterprise was constructing the building, prompting Thai authorities to launch an investigation.
On the 30th, local media such as the Bangkok Post and The Nation reported that Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra instructed the Public Works and Town & Country Planning Department to form an expert committee to thoroughly investigate the accident and submit the results within a week. It was noted that although there were no casualties in other existing buildings or construction sites in Bangkok, which is 1,000 km away from the earthquake’s location, only this building collapsed.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn particularly emphasized that the committee should investigate the building’s design, the approval agency, the approval method, and identify the causes of the collapse. Before entering politics, he managed the Shinawatra family’s real estate business. He stated, “I have never seen such an issue in my construction industry experience,” and stressed the need for a thorough investigation due to the significant portion of the construction budget already allocated and the extension of the completion deadline.
The construction was undertaken by a Thai local joint venture of China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC), a major Chinese state-owned enterprise, and Italian-Thai Development. Despite the structural framework of the building being completed by the end of March last year, the fact that only this building collapsed suggests possible design or construction defects.
Previously, on the 28th, the building, which was intended to be used as the office of the Thai Auditor General, collapsed due to a magnitude 7.7 earthquake near Mandalay in central Myanmar. So far, the accident has resulted in 10 deaths and 79 people missing. The building had been under construction for the past three years with a budget exceeding 2 billion baht (approximately 86.7 billion won).