On the 28th, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred in central Myanmar, causing the collapse of a 33-story building under construction in Bangkok, Thailand. The Thai government has launched an investigation into the construction company, a state-owned Chinese enterprise, according to reports from the Bangkok Post and others on the 30th. Bangkok is more than 1,000 kilometers away from the earthquake epicenter, and there were no casualties in other buildings or construction sites in Bangkok. However, since only this building collapsed, more than 10 people lost their lives.
Thai Prime Minister Phatongtan Chittawatan instructed the Ministry of Interior's Department of Public Projects and Urban-Rural Planning to form an expert committee to thoroughly investigate the incident of the building's collapse the previous day. Chittawatan said, "I instructed to identify the cause of the collapse and report within a week," adding, "We will investigate the building's design, the agency that approved the design, how the design was approved, and what factors contributed to the collapse."
Before entering politics, Chittawatan managed a real estate business. He noted, "I have seen many videos capturing the building's collapse from various angles," and said, "Based on my experience in the construction industry, I have not seen such issues before." He added, "A significant portion of the budget has been allocated, and the completion deadline has been extended, so a thorough investigation is necessary."
The building that collapsed due to this earthquake was a 33-story structure under construction near the popular Bangkok attraction Chatuchak Market and was intended to serve as the headquarters of the Thai National Audit Office. The construction was led by a local joint venture of the state-owned China Railway Group Limited (CREC) and Italy-Thailand Development. China Railway 10th Bureau is one of the largest construction and engineering companies in the world. Over the past three years, the project has proceeded with a budget of over 2 billion baht (about 867 million won).