15 People Including Tycoon Construction Become Suspects In The Aftermath Of The Ambruk Building During The Thai Earthquake

JAKARTA - A Thai construction tycoon and 14 other people surrendered to the police on Friday in connection with the collapse of a building that killed nearly a hundred workers during a devastating earthquake in March. Dozens of people became suspects in irregularities in building construction.

The 30-story State Audit office building that has just been built in Bangkok is the only building that collapsed due to shocks originating from the Richter-scale 7.7 earthquake in neighboring Myanmar.

Rescuers found 92 bodies during an operation six weeks from the collapsed site. Four people are still missing.

Premchai Karnasuta, president of the Italian Thai Development, one of Thailand's largest construction companies, and 14 other suspects affiliated with the company responsible for building design and construction, said deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau Noppasin Poonsawat.

They were accused of negligence and violated construction regulations.

"The expert assessment reveals that architectural design does not comply with ministerial regulations or meet the technical standards outlined in the benchmark provisions," Noppasin said.

There are also irregularities in the construction materials used, including substandard concrete and steel. Investigators also found fake signatures in engineering documents.

The supervisory organization suspects that there is corruption in the construction of the building.

Preliminary tests of materials collected at the site in March showed the presence of substandard steel among the ruins structures, according to industry ministry officials.

The 15 suspects were brought to justice for pretrial proceedings and have denied all charges, Noppasin said, while two additional suspects will report to the authorities on Monday.

The investigation is still ongoing over the cause of the collapse, one of the deadliest in the country.

Italian Thai Development said it was working with the authorities.

Premchai was sentenced to more than three years in prison in 2021 for hunting protected species after he was caught by forestkeepers at a forest camp in wildlife with protected animal carcasses, including black Indochina leopards.