Thai construction tycoon and 14 others surrender to police over fatal Bangkok tower collapse

A Thai construction magnate along with 14 others turned themselves in to the police on Friday regarding a building collapse that resulted in the deaths of almost a hundred workers during a major earthquake in March, officials stated.

The 30-storey State Audit Office tower in Bangkok, which was partially constructed, was the sole structure to collapse due to the shaking from the strong 7.7 magnitude earthquake in nearby Myanmar. Rescue crews have retrieved 92 bodies over a six-week effort from the site that collapsed. Four remained unaccounted for.

Premchai Karnasuta, the head of Italian Thai Development, one of Thailand’s major construction firms, along with 14 other suspects linked to firms involved in construction and design, was reported by Noppasin Poonsawat, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau.

They have faced allegations of carelessness and violating building codes. He mentioned that there were inconsistencies in the building materials utilized, such as inferior concrete and steel, and noted that investigators found falsified signatures on engineering documents.

A watchdog group indicated shortly after the earthquake that corruption could have played a role in the building’s construction. Preliminary examinations of materials collected from the site in March revealed the existence of inferior steel within the wreckage structure, as stated by officials from the industry ministry.

Noppasin stated that the 15 suspects have appeared in court for pre-trial proceedings and have rejected all allegations, while two more suspects are set to report to authorities on Monday. An inquiry was still ongoing regarding the reasons for the collapse, one of the nation’s deadliest.

Italian Thai Development announced that it is working in collaboration with authorities.

Premchai was found guilty and given a sentence of over three years in prison in 2021 for illegally hunting protected species after rangers apprehended him at a jungle campsite within a wildlife sanctuary, where he had carcasses of endangered animals, including a black Indochinese leopard.