Report Bangkok Building Collapse Blamed on Design Flaws, Says PM

[snoop1130]

File photo for reference only

 

Thai investigators have determined that design and construction flaws led to the collapse of a partially built Bangkok building during the March 28 earthquake, resulting in at least 89 deaths. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra announced these findings, highlighting that the disaster was not due to material quality.

 

A comprehensive investigation by the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning, alongside Chulalongkorn, Kasetsart, and King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, revealed that critical structures like the elevator and stairwell walls were improperly designed and constructed. These were meant to absorb shear force during seismic events.

 

Contrary to earlier reports suggesting substandard materials, the study confirmed that the steel and concrete used met necessary standards. The issue lay in construction methods that didn't adhere to engineering principles, particularly the elevator shaft wall.

 

The collapsed 30-storey structure, intended for the State Audit Office, was the only building in Bangkok to fall during the 7.7-magnitude quake centred in Myanmar. Authorities have charged a prominent construction tycoon and others with negligence related to the incident.

 

The project was handled by ITD-CREC, a joint venture of Italian-Thai Development Plc and China Railway Number 10 Thailand Co., which secured a 2.14 billion baht contract in 2020. Construction started later that year.

 

Premchai Karnasuta, the president of Italian-Thai Development Plc, along with other executives, designers, and engineers, have been summoned following arrest warrants. Prime Minister Paetongtarn indicated that a fact-finding report will be sent to the Department of Special Investigation and Royal Thai Police for further measures.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from Bangkok Post 2025-06-30

 

 

[MikeandDow]

And Pigs will fly !! utter rubbish  Who designed it  who approved the design   Again typical Thailand sweep it under the carpet    

[realfunster]

11 minutes ago, MikeandDow said:

Who designed it  who approved the design   Again typical Thailand sweep it under the carpet    

I've lost track now, which is probably the ambition of all involved.

I thought it was designed by a credible international firm, could be wrong though.

 

The article appears to throw more emphasis on poor construction, rather than design. 

[ozz1]

Don't want to upset the Chinese masters about their inferior steel reinforcement what a joke

 

[newbee2022]

Design flaws??? I reckon it's a construction "flaw" what caused the building to collapse.

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra announced these findings, highlighting that the disaster was not due to material quality.

After a testing agency have already said the re-bar was of sub-standard quality...

Is she saying their findings were incorrect ?

Or protecting some Chinese firms ?

[ignore it]

It  comes down to a week shaft.

 

Just like my ex girlfriend said.

[AustinRacing]

Oh, she’s still here? Thought she’d be on the plane by now. 

[Sydebolle]

Well, as architecture is a "Thai only" profession as stipulated in the Alien Business Law ........

[wensiensheng]

Why was a building with construction flaws approved for construction?

 

And since the flaws have been so easily identified after the event, why werent they obvious BEFORE the event?

 

I’m no engineer, but the quotes published in the OP don’t seem credible to me.

[phetphet]

What exactly were those Chinese guys who were arrested trying to remove from the site? And why?

[FinChin67]

My Chinese well connected friend said few days after the collapse that it's a design fault. Showed Chinese articles blaming the design company and it's faults...

Thailand has been long time province of China.

[impulse]

22 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

Why was a building with construction flaws approved for construction?

 

And since the flaws have been so easily identified after the event, why werent they obvious BEFORE the event?

 

I’m no engineer, but the quotes published in the OP don’t seem credible to me.

 

My suspicion is that they need to look at the state of the building on the day of the earthquake.

 

Using a much simplified analogy, your house was probably fine once they finished it, but there would be problems if an earthquake hit while there were a bunch of workers on scaffolding, and climbing ladders hauling roof tiles.

 

I'm not excusing the disastrous results, but I suspect there were a lot of structural elements to be installed later in the process.  Including elevator shafts and external cladding which would have added torsional rigidity. 

 

What I'd like to see is a structural analysis of the building, on the day.  Not the completed configuration, which may (or may not) have been fine.

 

[Zakhar]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

File photo for reference only

 

Thai investigators have determined that design and construction flaws led to the collapse of a partially built Bangkok building during the March 28 earthquake, resulting in at least 89 deaths. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra announced these findings, highlighting that the disaster was not due to material quality.

 

A comprehensive investigation by the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning, alongside Chulalongkorn, Kasetsart, and King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, revealed that critical structures like the elevator and stairwell walls were improperly designed and constructed. These were meant to absorb shear force during seismic events.

 

Contrary to earlier reports suggesting substandard materials, the study confirmed that the steel and concrete used met necessary standards. The issue lay in construction methods that didn't adhere to engineering principles, particularly the elevator shaft wall.

 

The collapsed 30-storey structure, intended for the State Audit Office, was the only building in Bangkok to fall during the 7.7-magnitude quake centred in Myanmar. Authorities have charged a prominent construction tycoon and others with negligence related to the incident.

 

The project was handled by ITD-CREC, a joint venture of Italian-Thai Development Plc and China Railway Number 10 Thailand Co., which secured a 2.14 billion baht contract in 2020. Construction started later that year.

 

Premchai Karnasuta, the president of Italian-Thai Development Plc, along with other executives, designers, and engineers, have been summoned following arrest warrants. Prime Minister Paetongtarn indicated that a fact-finding report will be sent to the Department of Special Investigation and Royal Thai Police for further measures.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from Bangkok Post 2025-06-30

 

 

Probably, the Chinese builder is  another uncle?

[madone]

What nonsense.

Amazed that they would rather let us believe an incorrectly designed building could actually get to that stage of construction than admit their Chinese partners were cutting corners.

[madone]

28 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

 

 

I’m no engineer, but the quotes published in the OP don’t seem credible to me.

 

the OP does not contain even a single quote.

[tomazbodner]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

After a testing agency have already said the re-bar was of sub-standard quality...

Is she saying their findings were incorrect ?

Or protecting some Chinese firms ?

Let's not forget another warehouse collapse in Chonburi, using same sub-standard steel, from factory that was shut down for producing substandard steel. Is this just to redirect attention from the high speed train link to China also using same steel?

 

Or maybe this is simply stating that despite complete rubbish of materials used, the design of the building was flawed from the start, construction quality was terrible, so whether materials were perfect or not, the building would have gone down anyway as it was so badly designed and constructed? If that's true - why was the design been given green light to start construction? Surely if it's so bad, someone would have pointed it out before the first earth digger arrived on site?

[wensiensheng]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

My suspicion is that they need to look at the state of the building on the day of the earthquake.

 

Using a much simplified analogy, your house was probably fine once they finished it, but there would be problems if an earthquake hit while there were a bunch of workers on scaffolding, and climbing ladders hauling roof tiles.

 

I'm not excusing the disastrous results, but I suspect there were a lot of structural elements to be installed later in the process.  Including elevator shafts and external cladding which would have added torsional rigidity. 

 

What I'd like to see is a structural analysis of the building, on the day.  Not the completed configuration, which may (or may not) have been fine.

 

It’s possible you are right, as I said, I’m no engineer.

 

But consider this, using your analogy, yes, workers on the roof of your house would be injured and loose roof tiles thrown off and scaffolding may collapse etc. however, the structural elements of the house like foundations and walls, should remain standing.

 

Then, looking at the construction of a multi level sky scraper, intuitively I would have to think that as it rises into the sky, each phase of construction would have its own structural integrity. I mean, I don’t see how you could have, say, a 50 story building and cross your fingers as you reach the last story, because the first 49 stories aren’t structurally sound. 

 

So I take your point that the building wasn’t finished and therefore may not be as structurally sound as it would be in its finished state, but I have to think that partially built buildings of this type should be, and in fact usually are, structurally sound as they go up.

 

And then, it’s now said that there were design flaws. So how would it have been structurally sound when finished? The design flaws would still be there.

 

The only plus point to come out of this is that it was the only building to come down.

 

 

[wensiensheng]

1 hour ago, madone said:

 

the OP does not contain even a single quote.

“Thai investigators have determined that design and construction flaws led to the collapse of a partially built Bangkok building during the March 28 earthquake, resulting in at least 89 deaths.”

 

“Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra announced these findings, highlighting that the disaster was not due to material quality”

 

In order to satisfy your anal attention to detail, I should have said that the findings and announcement in the article don’t seem credible to me.

 

Happy now 🙄

 

[LALes]

Put the chick on the plane, already.

[Luuk Chaai]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

After a testing agency have already said the re-bar was of sub-standard quality...

Is she saying their findings were incorrect ?

Or protecting some Chinese firms ?

Read carefully.   While the steel quality  may have been "ok" the design and specs  have  been way wrong.  Either way. Total BS. 

 

[zyphodb]

Let the coverup begin...

[Grumpy one]

18 hours ago, MikeandDow said:

And Pigs will fly !! utter rubbish  Who designed it  who approved the design   Again typical Thailand sweep it under the carpet    

She is only repeating what daddy dearest told her to say  

[Drumbuie]

I was told that after the design was approved, the design company was told their role was finished, and contrary to standard practice they were not consulted over changes to the design. Allegedly, the structurally vital, centrally placed lift shaft was instead built in a corner  - without any compensatory strengthening elsewhere - with predictably disastrous results. 

[Negita43]

4 hours ago, ignore it said:

It  comes down to a week shaft.

A "week" shaft god that's a long time

[connda]

19 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thai investigators have determined that design and construction flaws led to the collapse of a partially built Bangkok building during the March 28 earthquake, resulting in at least 89 deaths. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra announced these findings, highlighting that the disaster was not due to material quality.

They have figured out who they want to throw under the bus it seems.

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

why was the design been given green light to start construction? Surely if it's so bad, someone would have pointed it out before the first earth digger arrived on site?

I think the original design was deviated from to save time and costs.

Original load bearing structures were down-sized.

[Taboo2]

There is a bridge in Brooklyn for sale for all those who believe this crap.

[davb]

5 hours ago, hotchilli said:

After a testing agency have already said the re-bar was of sub-standard quality...

Is she saying their findings were incorrect ?

Or protecting some Chinese firms ?

In the full Thaiger article she says this:

"PM Paetongtarn clarified that experts confirmed the steel itself was not substandard, but some components were deliberately cut thinner than required once installed, which caused critical weaknesses."
 

[Peter Crow]

Well we are are in Thailand, so this earthquake probably saved hundreds of government internal auditors. Just imagine it had collapsed some day, at 10:30, packed with 1000 civil servants...