The Thai government has discovered that 30 engineers’ signatures on the construction supervision documents of the Thai Audit Office building, which is being built by the Chinese state-owned enterprise China Railway Tenth Group, were forged. The building collapsed in a local earthquake at the end of March, becoming the only structure in the area to succumb to the tremors.
According to a report by the local English-language newspaper Bangkok Post, the Thai police’s Special Investigation Bureau held a meeting on Tuesday, May 6, to present the latest progress in the investigation of the collapsed Audit Office building.
Investigators found that 30 engineers have informed the Special Investigation Bureau that they did not sign the supervision documents, indicating that those signatures were falsified. Currently, only eight individuals have admitted to signing the said documents.
The 30-storey Audit Office building in Bangkok was jointly constructed by the Thailand branch of China Railway Tenth Group and the Italian-Thai Development Public Company. The unfinished building collapsed on March 28 during the earthquake in Myanmar. Investigators suspect that the construction party may have illegally altered the building design and used substandard materials to cut costs.
Wira Ruangsri, the manager of the engineering company 3117 BIM Management, who is a structural engineering expert, presented his views on the collapse incident during the meeting.
Ruangsri analyzed the video footage of the building collapse on March 28 and expressed concerns about modifications to the building’s foundation, elevator shaft walls, and elevator shaft design.
He suggested that the breaking of two structural columns may have been the cause of the building collapse.
The Thai Department of Public Works, the Central Institute of Forensic Science, the Thai Industrial Standards Institute, and the police are collaborating on the investigation. Investigators are currently analyzing concrete and steel samples to determine whether inferior materials or design flaws led to the collapse. They have also requested the preservation of the elevator shafts.
Authorities are also investigating PKW joint venture company responsible for supervising the construction project. According to the Thai online media “Thai Inquirer,” the construction supervision was organized by the PKW joint venture company.
Engineer Song Jie, who filed a report with the police last month, stated that a friend invited him to oversee the project in 2020. Although he did not explicitly refuse, he did not actively participate in supervision and was listed as the project manager in the documents. The friend later deleted all communication records.
The Special Investigation Bureau noted that key evidence in this case includes testimony from engineers whose signatures were misappropriated and evidence from the construction site. After gathering crucial evidence, the authorities are preparing to hand over the implicated China Railway Tenth Group Thailand branch manager Zhang Chuangling and three suspected nominee shareholders to prosecutors for judicial prosecution.
Bangkok Mayor Chadchart Sittipunt stated on Tuesday that the search for the 14 missing workers would be completed within four days. After the completion of the search, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will turn over the site to the National Audit Office and investigators for further examination.
Official statistics indicate that the incident resulted in the deaths of 86 people, injuries to 9 individuals, and 14 people missing.
Authorities are also collecting data to assess the economic impact on nearby businesses and potential compensation due to the incident.