23 Suspects Including Construction Tycoon and Chinese Firm Indicted for Negligence Resulting in Collapse of Thai Building during Earthquake

On Thursday, Thai authorities filed charges against 23 individuals, including a prominent Thai construction tycoon and a Chinese state-owned firm, for regulatory violations linked to the collapse of a building during a powerful earthquake that claimed nearly a hundred lives. The incident occurred on March 28, when a 7.7 magnitude quake struck neighboring Myanmar, causing the partial collapse of the 30-story State Audit Office tower in Bangkok.

The State Audit Office building was a joint venture between Italian-Thai Development, one of Thailand’s largest construction companies, and China Railway Number 10 (Thailand) Ltd, a local subsidiary of China Railway Group. The indictment alleges that the defendants, which include Premchai Karnasuta, president of Italian-Thai, breached construction regulations and caused death through negligence.

According to Sakkasem Nisaiyok, spokesman for the Office of the Attorney General, additional charges have been levied against some suspects for falsifying engineering documents. As of yet, Italian-Thai Development has not responded to requests for comment from Reuters. Efforts to obtain comment from other parties involved in the case, such as China Railway Number 10 (Thailand) Ltd, have thus far been unsuccessful.

Upon their arrest in May over the building collapse, Premchai Karnasuta and 14 others firmly denied all charges against them.