17 arrest warrants issued over SAO building collapse
published : 16 May 2025 at 07:23
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Wassayos Ngamkham
The Criminal Court on Thursday approved arrest warrants for 17 people, including construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta, in connection with the collapse of the 2.1-billion-baht State Audit Office building in Bangkok.
The collapse was triggered by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in central Myanmar on March 28.
Premchai, 71, president of Italian-Thai Development Plc, and the other 16 suspects face charges for professional negligence causing death.
The suspects include engineers, supervisors and contractors from three groups: design firms (Forum Architect, Meinhardt Thailand), construction supervisory firms and the ITD-CREC joint venture (Italian-Thai Development Plc and China Railway No.10 Thailand).
Police investigators found that the building’s design violated safety standards, with structural flaws in the core lift shaft and substandard concrete and steel.
The collapse of the 30-storey building resulted in 92 deaths, nine injuries and four missing persons.
On Tuesday, the investigation team sought approval from the Criminal Court to arrest the 17 suspects.
In December 2021, the Supreme Court sentenced Premchai to a prison term of three years and two months for hunting in Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in February 2018.
Vocabulary
- collapse: (of people and business) to fail suddenly; to suddenly be unable to continue or work correctly - ล้ม (ธุรกิจ)
- concrete: a hard substance used in building made by mixing cement, sand, small stones, and water - คอนกรีต
- contractor: a person or company whose job is to do work for another person, organisation, company, etc. - ผู้รับเหมา
- flaw: a fault; something wrong with something - ข้อบกพร่อง
- hunt (verb): to look for a person or animal in order to catch them or harm them; to chase wild animals or birds in order to catch or kill them for food, sport or to make money - ตามหา, ล่า
- joint venture: a business activity carried out by two or more companies or groups - การลงทุนร่วม
- negligence: when you do not give enough care or attention to someone or something - ความประมาท, ความไม่เอาใจใส่
- shaft: a long narrow passage, e.g., one that leads from the surface of the ground down to a mine - อุโมงค์แนวตั้ง
- supervisor: someone who is in charge of an activity, a place, or a group of people such as workers or students - ผู้ควบคุมดูแล, หัวหน้างาน
- suspect: a person who is thought to have committed a crime - ผู้ต้องสงสัย
- trigger: to cause - ก่อให้เกิด กระตุ้น
- tycoon: a person who has succeeded in business or industry and has become very rich and powerful - นักธุรกิจที่ร่ำรวยและมีอิทธิพลมาก
- violate: to do something that is against the law - ละเมิดกฏหมาย
