Italian-Thai Joint Venture Liable for Rebuilding Collapsed SAI Building, Says Prosecutor

[Lung Mark]

Chinese tofu dreg construction. Very sad for the workers killed or injured. Seems like Thailand is very much behind on safety regulations.

[Don Giovanni]

3 minutes ago, hotsun said:

Thais blame foreigners for their problems

I agree to this part.

 

Same as the Indians and The Burmese.

Yet when the poo really hits the fan they always cry out for our help..

 

The Don.

[bendejo]

Is this the same Italian- partnership concern that built some of the Bkk rail system?

 

[steven100]

19 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

pah theyll just drag it thru the courts for 20+ years

and that's what I said in an earlier post ... 

 

this is Thailand,  and they will play the delay game. 

[Don Giovanni]

3 minutes ago, steven100 said:

this is Thailand,  and they will play the delay game.

I've heard Thaksin is pretty good at that.

 

Maybe he can give Premchai some advice on where to buy the best neck brace..

 

The Don.

[Ralf001]

6 minutes ago, bendejo said:

Is this the same Italian- partnership concern that built some of the Bkk rail system?

 

 

Yes.. and they have a contract for the China/Thai rail too.

[norfolkandchance]

27 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

 look in any small province they have umpteen massive govt buildings  mostly emtpy  Pranburi has a  whole raft of dumbass OTT govt buildings

Provincial Court and  government housing development in our small town Phimai. Never looks open.

[Sierra Tango]

49 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

did any roll in the burning nightclub fiasco fire?

Yes, surprisingly. Several prosecuted and jailed just recently. 

[watchcat]

1 hour ago, connda said:

The builder's will claim Force Majeure.  If that doesn't work - bankruptcy.  Fyi.  Sometimes the lowest bid isn't the best course of action.  I seriously doubt that the Italian/Thai partnership will be rebuilding that structure.  The deepest pockets will end up covering the cost (hello Thai government)!  🇹🇭

 Hello taxpayers.

[sandyf]

1 hour ago, Yagoda said:

That building was Chinese engineering. Nuff said. 

 

 

Are you trying to say all Chinese high rise buildings will collapse,

 

China's tallest bldg evacuated after earthquake
05.12.08, 3:11 AM ET

 

China -SHANGHAI, May 12 (Reuters) - China's tallest building, the Jinmao Tower, and other highrise buildings in Shanghai's financial district were ordered evacuated on Monday after tremors were felt from a strong earthquake in southwestern China's Sichuan Province, witnesses said.

On Monday, an earthquake measuring 7.5 rocked Sichuan province less than 100 km (60 miles) from the provincial capital of Chengdu, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its website.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties or damage from the tremor.

The tremor, centred 92 km northwest of Chengdu, was felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghai and in the Thai capital Bangkok, where office buildings swayed with the impact. (Reporting by Joseph Chaney; Editing by Edmund Klamann) https://web.archive.org/web/20080517123807/http://www.forbes.com/reuters/feeds/reuters/2008/05/12/2008-05-12T071126Z_01_SHA237317_RTRIDST_0_CHINA-EARTHQUAKE-SHANGHAI-URGENT.htmlp

[BangkokReady]

1 hour ago, Don Giovanni said:

Premchai the endangered animal killer strikes again!

 

Now he has (possibly) over 100 deaths on his hands.

 

The fat pig should never have been let out in the first place, let alone be allowed to commission new buildings again..

 

The Don.

 

So negative...  😓

[Yagoda]

2 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Are you trying to say all Chinese high rise buildings will collapse,

That depends on

The depth of the earthquake (as important as magnitude)

The magnitude of the earthquake

The building plan, including earthquake proofing

The ground

 

I hope not. I dont enjoy tragedy. I assume the Chinese are smart enough to proof their own buildings in quake zones.

[BangkokReady]

1 hour ago, Hawaiian said:

It is.  But the argument might go like this.  If it were designed properly it would have withstood the earthquake.  The question is who would buy that argument.

 

If the law says that it is due to an earthquake simply taking place and causing the building to fall, and not that the design caused it to fall where it should have been able to withstand an earthquake, then it seems pretty clear.

[Yagoda]

1 hour ago, Lung Mark said:

Chinese tofu dreg construction.

You've seen it too?. I was shocked when I went into the apt block high rises in metro Shanghai.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

The building wasn't complete, so the cost to replace the property destroyed in the quake will be less, and possibly much less, than the total contract value.

 

Some cost items, such as architects' fees or profit margin won't be recurring, further reducing the cost to replace. 

 

Ital-Thai will likely be on the hook for the cost to re-build regardless of whether shoddy materials or faulty design or workmanship is involved. A main contractor is usually responsible for the entire project unless the principal separately contracted out specific elements. It would be up to Ital-Thai to pursue any subcontractors if they were negligent. This should not affect the government's rights under the contract with Ital-Thai.

 

Earthquake is an insurable peril under construction "all-risks" policies. Ital-Thai could have insured this risk if they wanted to. I suspect government contracts may not require contractors to take out this coverage and Ital-Thai quite possibly did not.

 

Some force majeure perils in construction contracts may be limited to excusing the contractor from paying liquidated damages in the event the project is delayed. Insurable perils, such as earthquake, are often not considered force majeure events with respect to the contractor's liability to re-build following a loss unless the project is abandoned by the principal.

 

Political aspects aside, I think Ital-Thai will be on the hook for this one.

 

 

 

 

 

[mran66]

5 hours ago, marin said:

You do know that ItalThai is the biggest construction firm in Thailand by far. Aint gonna happen

 

Not done by Italian thai, rather by a jv between them and Chinese. 

[mran66]

They will soon conclude that as the collapse was because of earthquake that happened in Myanmar, the Myanmar people are at fault and must pay. 

 

The fact that the approved  column and slab structure is unsafe for the location and that much of the steel and cement designed to be in the structure ended up being benefiting officials and construction company staff and managers personal accounts is irrelevant for the collapse. 

 

TIT. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

20 hours ago, watchcat said:

 

Is this the same company with the black panter killer but i think he's still in jail.

 

And the one involved in the Rama II expressway fiasco...

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

15 hours ago, Yagoda said:

 

Here is a premise for you: Chinese construction is cut cornered and cheap. China does best in countries where they can buy the locals with filled envelopes.

And yet the project was one commissioned by the Thai government, and the construction contract was awarded and funded by the Thai government... So presumably they have / had some oversight role in how their money was being spent and how their project (that spectacularly collapsed) was being built.

 

At least, one would hope....

 

There's LOTS of possibilities, including:

--substandard site prep / foundation work.

--substandard building design.

--substandard building materials being used.

--substandard construction methods/work by the contractor.

 

Is the Thai government really going to come to legitimate, factual conclusions on whether and how those various factors played a role in the collapse within the 7-day inquiry timeline laid out by Dep. PM Anutin?  Me thinks not.

 

Instead, at some point, there may be a government public statement offering some assessment for why the building collapsed that probably won't delve too deep into what actually may have occurred and why.

 

 

[NoDisplayName]

16 hours ago, marin said:

You do know that ItalThai is the biggest construction firm in Thailand by far. Aint gonna happen

 

They sure are, and they ain't stupid.

 

What are the odds that the Italian-Thai Joint Venture (ITD-CRCC) is a legally separate entity from both ITD and CRCC, has no assets, is merely a management company set up for this particular project to be dissolved at the end of construction OR if the building implodes, allowing the two main investing companies to walk away unscathed.

[NoDisplayName]

16 hours ago, BKKBike09 said:

A question no-one is asking is "why did the State Audit Office need a 30-something storey building in the first place?"

 

They need office space for all the thousands of finance and accounting personnel who will be auditing foreign tax resident income tax returns.

[ChrisY1]

On 3/30/2025 at 4:28 AM, flyingtlger said:

I have a feeling the company will just declare bankruptcy and walk away.....

They won't do that....they are the biggest developer in Thailand....and very friendly with the political players.

[newbee2022]

On 3/30/2025 at 3:26 AM, Georgealbert said:

 

Picture courtesy of Matichon.

 

Dr Thanakrit Worathanachakul, a senior prosecutor and legal expert, has confirmed that under the terms of the construction contract, the Italian-Thai Joint Venture (ITD-CRCC) is responsible for reconstructing the collapsed State Audit Office (SAI) building, even if the collapse was caused by an earthquake.

 

The ITD-CRCC Joint Venture, a partnership between Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited and China Railway No. 10 (Thailand) Company Limited, won the construction contract after submitting the lowest bid, valued at 2.136 billion baht. However, following an earthquake on 28 March 2025, the building collapsed, raising questions about liability under the contract.

 

In a Facebook post, Dr Thanakrit, who lectures on procedural law and evidence law at Thammasat University, Ramkhamhaeng University, the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), and Mae Fah Luang University, provided a legal analysis of the case.

 

Based on standard public procurement contracts issued under Thailand’s 2017 Public Procurement and Supplies Administration Act, the contract likely follows the electronic bidding format approved by the Comptroller General’s Department. The agreement was structured as a lump-sum contract with progress payments made in instalments.

 

Under Clause 11, Paragraph 2 of the standard construction contract, if the collapse occurred due to the contractor’s fault or an unforeseen event such as an earthquake, but before the final handover, the contractor is obliged to rebuild the structure at their own expense. The contractor cannot claim additional payment from the SAI unless the collapse resulted from the employer’s fault.

 

Furthermore, Clause 13 stipulates that the contractor cannot evade responsibility by citing the presence of an inspection committee or project supervisors. In this case, the construction was overseen by the PKW Joint Venture as the project supervisor.

 

Regarding injuries and fatalities, Clause 12, Paragraph 3 of the contract requires the contractor to provide insurance coverage for all workers. Meanwhile, Clause 11, Paragraph 1 holds the contractor accountable for any accidents, damages, or hazards arising from their operations.

 

As a result, injured workers or the families of those who died will receive compensation from the contractor’s insurance policy and other legal entitlements. For third parties affected by the collapse, the contractor is fully liable for damages.

 

The legal implications of this case underscore the strict contractual obligations of public sector contractors and serve as a warning for companies undertaking major government projects.

 

-- 2025-03-30

 

Good contract. And good that there was insurance, even for the workers.👍

However, it could lead to bankrupty.

 

[crazykopite]

The bodies are yet to be recovered and already the vultures are out doing the blame game have these people no compassion in their hearts to allow those who have lost loved ones at least hold funerals shame on them !

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

7 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

What are the odds that the Italian-Thai Joint Venture (ITD-CRCC) is a legally separate entity from both ITD and CRCC, has no assets, is merely a management company set up for this particular project to be dissolved at the end of construction OR if the building implodes, allowing the two main investing companies to walk away unscathed.

 

There is definitely a risk of the JV folding and walking away from this if there is no contractor's "all-risks" policy covering the contract works. 

[Frankie baby]

Surely the consultants should take any blame, as they are the ones overseeing the construction.

 

Then again, their was non mentioned in the above bulleting. 

[crazykopite]

I read that some 8,000 reports of damage in high rise buildings have so far been reported I would imagine some of those could be ordered to be demolished as structuraly unsafe 

[jippytum]

49% Chinese says it all. 

[Thingamabob]

On 3/30/2025 at 4:53 AM, Ralf001 said:

 

Premchai would be out now.

 

I wonder he ever really spent much, if any, time inside....

[Yagoda]

8 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

And yet the project was one commissioned by the Thai government, and the construction contract was awarded and funded by the Thai government... So presumably they have / had some oversight role in how their money was being spent and how their project (that spectacularly collapsed) was being built.

 

At least, one would hope....

 

There's LOTS of possibilities, including:

--substandard site prep / foundation work.

--substandard building design.

--substandard building materials being used.

--substandard construction methods/work by the contractor.

 

Is the Thai government really going to come to legitimate, factual conclusions on whether and how those various factors played a role in the collapse within the 7-day inquiry timeline laid out by Dep. PM Anutin?  Me thinks not.

 

Instead, at some point, there may be a government public statement offering some assessment for why the building collapsed that probably won't delve too deep into what actually may have occurred and why.

 

 

Thats fine, but doesnt change the fact that Chinese build sh**