Thai authorities have issued arrest warrants for 17 individuals, including former construction magnate Premchai Karnasuta, following the collapse of the 30-story State Audit Office (SAO) tower in Bangkok. The building crumbled on March 28 after powerful tremors from a 7.7-magnitude earthquake centered in neighboring Myanmar shook parts of Thailand. The collapse killed at least 89 people and left seven others still missing, marking the deadliest structural failure linked to the quake’s regional impact.
Those named in the warrants include engineers, site supervisors, and senior executives from multiple firms involved in the project. Among them is the 71-year-old Premchai, former president of Italian-Thai Development Plc, whose prior conviction for poaching endangered wildlife in 2018 already made him a controversial figure in Thailand.
Preliminary investigations revealed significant design flaws in the building’s structural core and the use of substandard concrete and steel. Anti-corruption agencies had reportedly flagged irregularities in the project years before the collapse. The SAO tower was the only high-rise in Bangkok to come down during the quake, raising urgent questions about how the project passed inspections and met regulatory approval.
The suspects face charges of professional negligence causing death, a serious offense under Thai law that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The construction firms implicated include Forum Architect, Meinhardt Thailand, and the ITD-CREC joint venture—a partnership between Italian-Thai Development and China Railway No.10.
“I heard the boom from my cart,” said Somchai Wattanakul, a street vendor who operates near the former SAO site. “The ground shook, but it was the sound of the collapse that froze us. That building was new—we never thought it could just fall like that.” Like many locals, Somchai now questions the safety of buildings across the capital.
Government officials have launched a nationwide audit of large-scale construction projects, prioritizing those completed within the past 10 years. Experts warn that Thailand’s rapid urban growth has often outpaced regulatory enforcement, especially in the private-public partnership space. A civil engineering professor from Chulalongkorn University, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the collapse “entirely preventable.”
Meanwhile, rescue teams continue their search through the debris in hopes of recovering the missing. Officials say additional charges may be filed as the investigation continues and more details emerge.
Thailand’s construction sector now faces renewed public scrutiny, and the government has pledged to overhaul safety standards to prevent future tragedies. For many Bangkok residents, however, the fear is already personal—and growing.
