On Friday, March 28, a major earthquake in Myanmar caused ripples in neighboring countries. In Thailand, a high-rise building under construction collapsed in an instant, with the contractor being a state-owned enterprise of the Chinese Communist Party, China Railway Tenth Bureau. Public opinion has mocked the Chinese Communist Party for exporting “substandard projects”, with mainland media exposing China Railway Tenth Bureau quickly deleting previous celebratory reports, which were subsequently also removed by official media.
On the afternoon of March 28, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Mandalay, Myanmar, causing heavy casualties in Myanmar and neighboring Thailand. In Bangkok, Thailand, a high-rise building that had already been topped off collapsed within seconds, turning into rubble with a large number of workers trapped underneath.
According to international media reports, at the time of the building collapse, there were three to four hundred workers on site, including both Thai and foreign nationals.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul stated that the collapse of the building had resulted in at least 8 deaths, with rescue teams still working tirelessly to save the 110 people trapped in the rubble. So far, at least 12 people have been rescued from the scene.
Anutin attributed the collapse to the failure of the columns at the base of the building.
The Bangkok Post reported that the project was undertaken by the joint venture ITD-CREC [a consortium composed of Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited and China Railway Tenth Bureau (Thailand) Co., Ltd.].
A report on mainland China’s Caixin website on Friday revealed that this was China Railway Tenth Bureau’s first overseas super high-rise building project, with 33 floors in the main office building. The building suffered structural damage and completely collapsed during the earthquake, with casualty figures at the site continually changing.
On April 2, 2024, China Railway Tenth Bureau Group published an article on its official WeChat account celebrating the topping off of the building structure on March 31, 2024. However, this post was deleted in the afternoon following the Myanmar earthquake.
The news sparked heated discussions among netizens, with many mocking the construction quality of Chinese state-owned enterprises. Some even questioned which country would dare to entrust them with construction projects in the future.
On the evening of March 28, two mainland Chinese self-media outlets published articles on their Netease accounts discussing the incident. One of the articles was titled “Building Collapse in Thailand, China Railway Tenth Bureau Deletes Article Quickly”.
The article pointed out that on April 2, 2024, the 137-meter high office building, intended for the Thai Audit Office, had just celebrated the completion of its main structure. In a promotional release by China Railway Tenth Bureau titled “Successful Topping Out of the Main Structure of the New Thai Audit Office Building”, it was praised as the “Chinese overseas construction calling card.”
The article sarcastically remarked that this earthquake, occurring so far away, easily brought down the so-called “Chinese overseas benchmark project”, resembling a cruel black comedy.
It remarked, “The collapse of the building is a minor matter, but the collapse of the propaganda is not. Just as Bangkok was still in dust and screams, China Railway Tenth Bureau acted promptly to swiftly and thoroughly delete their previously exuberantly released celebratory article. The extensive graphic and textual coverage disappeared in the blink of an eye.”
The article marveled at the speed of their “deletion,” stating, “The failure of technical challenges, the collision of pipelines is inconsequential, the building collapsed… but: the internet is clean, the corporate image is preserved, and the national image is preserved as well.” It concluded, “Who can delete the evidence at the fastest speed, is the true winner.” and “That once towering hundred-meter high overseas calling card, now reduced to rubble and dust, quietly awaits the miracle of being swiftly cleared once again.”
Another article titled “Strong quake in Myanmar reaches Bangkok, only collapsing building is the under-construction Thailand Audit Office building, Thai design, China Railway Tenth Bureau undertakes” emphasized that, “It is worth noting that China Railway Tenth Bureau had issued a celebratory message about topping out the main structure last April.” “China Railway Tenth Bureau has already deleted the relevant celebratory posts at the first opportunity.”
However, these self-media articles discussing China Railway Tenth Bureau’s deletion of promotional materials were also deleted by Chinese internet regulators within a few hours.
Many related discussion posts on mainland social media platforms disappeared overnight. By March 29, there were still scattered netizens on Weibo sharing screenshots related to the collapsed building, questioning China Railway Tenth Bureau: “It’s somewhat regrettable that the only building that collapsed in Bangkok was a project of China Railway Tenth Bureau, the main body structure was completed successfully last year, but today it was so vulnerable to earthquakes, the substandard project is embarrassing.” “The building under construction by China Railway Tenth Bureau collapsed, can you provide some specific details? Why act as if nothing happened?”
The Chinese official Xinhua News Agency on Friday released a simple message of less than 50 words regarding the collapsed building incident. The content read, “According to the latest data from the rescue site command center, the collapse of the high-rise building in Bangkok caused by the earthquake has resulted in 5 deaths, 9 injuries, and currently 117 people are still missing.” CCTV’s report also did not mention the contractor. Furthermore, the Chinese officials did not disclose whether there were Chinese workers at the collapse site, and their safety status.