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As a deadly 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar on Friday, over 1,000 km away from the epicenter, in Thailand capital city of Bangkok, collapsed one 33-storey under construction high-rise building.
Bangkok High-Rise Collapses Amid Myanmar Earthquake, Prompting Investigation
Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul visited the collapse site on Saturday and ordered a rapid investigation into the incident, stirring curiosity about what went wrong with the skyscraper, which a joint venture, including a Chinese firm, was constructing.
Despite being dotted with cranes, the intense quake shake collapsed this 33-storey high-rise building. Rescuers have so far recovered eight bodies from the debris of the skyscraper.
Questions over how and why the skyscraper collapsed so quickly have begun to do the rounds. Prof Suchatchavee Suwansawas, a civil engineer and politician from the Democrat Party, told The Telegraph UK that something was “definitely” wrong.
“You see all other buildings, even high-rise buildings under construction, they are safe. So either the design was wrong or construction was wrong, but it’s too soon to reach conclusions,” he noted.
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Collapsed Building Identified as Thailand’s State Audit Office Headquarters
The collapsed building reportedly was the unfinished headquarters of the Thailand’s State Audit Office (SAO) and had been under construction for three years, at a cost of more than two billion Thai baht (around $58 million).
It was a joint venture between Italian-Thai Development Plc and China Railway Number 10 (Thailand) Ltd. The Telegraph UK reported that a Chinese firm named China Railway Number 10 Engineer Group Company owns the latter company as a subsidiary, holding 49 percent of the shares, the largest stake foreign entities can hold in a Thai company.
Local Thai media reported that China Railway Number 10 Thailand established the company in 2018 and has since served as a construction contractor for office buildings, residential buildings, public roads, railways, and underground railways.
In 2023, the company reported a net loss of 199.66 million baht, from a revenue of 206.25 million baht and expenses of 354.95 billion baht.
Its shareholders comprise of Sophon Meechai with 40.80 per cent shares, Prachuab Sirikhet with 10.20 per cent shares and Manas Sri-anant with 3 per cent shares.
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Thailand deputy PM orders probe
The Ministry of Industry, meanwhile, had sent an inspection team to the collapsed skyscraper’s site to determine whether low quality steel or poor engineering design contributed to the incident.
Thailand’s deputy prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul also ordered a high-level probe into the collapse after having visited the site. “I am appointing the investigation committee. I have given them seven days to report back as to what’s going on and what caused the falling down,” he told reporters.
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