THE UNBEARABLE SOLITUDE OF BEING THE ONLY BUILDING IN BANGKOK TO FALL
Even before the dust settled in Bangkok after the March 28 quake, China Railway's Tenth Bureau was deleting posts and photos about its key role in the construction of the infamous collapsed building.
(For the latest updates, please see the linked story above.)
The shocking, apocalyptic images of the 32-story Audit Office Building in Chatuchak collapsing into itself imparted to sensation-driven news reports around the world the false impression that Bangkok itself was falling down.
That Bangkok, a city singularly unaccustomed to earthquakes was badly shaken, there is no doubt. That an air of panic descended in the vicinity of wobbling skyscrapers cannot be denied, raising long term questions about the suitability of high towers for human habitation.
But scary or not, all buildings but one passed the test.
Bangkok’s high-rise condos, hotels and office towers were buffeted by the long waves of the distant quake but remained structurally intact and standing after it was over.
There were isolated incidents of trauma--rooftop pools spilling into streets below, window washers dangling helplessly, hasty evacuations of high-rises and hospitals, scary images of falling debris and the tragic topping of a high-altitude crane--but only one building came crashing down.
In an idiosyncratic and unrepresentative way, that building became emblematic of the quake—not just in Bangkok—but as a stand in for the far-more seriously devastated Burma at the quake’s epicenter.
The Bangkok video footage of the tall cement and steel structure trembling and tumbling down is dramatic, and can be seen from multiple angles, but it obscures even as it horrifies.
The quake was no one’s fault, but it was not an equal opportunity destroyer, either. It was a strong one, 7.7 on the Richter scale. Given an epicenter 1000 km distant from Bangkok, it was the long seismic waves washing over the Thai capital that caused the undulations, magnified in anything tall, especially anything tall.
And it was that rocking tectonic movement which triggered the collapse of the almost-completed 32-story State Auditor Building next to Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal, Thailand’s biggest train station.
The doomed construction project, oft-postponed but finally near completion, was a joint venture between Thailand’s Italian-Thai (ITD) and China Railways Engineering Corporation (CREC)
The State Audit Office signed a construction contract on November 23, 2020 with the ITD-CRCC joint venture.
According to the Thai Enquirer, “the Department of Business Development's data indicates that the joint venture operates in a business category not listed under the Foreign Business Act, meaning foreign nationals can run the business without a license.”
It is difficult to apportion responsibility because a two billion baht pie can be divided up many ways, but there was money to be made and it attracted additional partners, as detailed by the Thai Enquirer:
“Another contract, signed on January 14, 2021, awarded 74.65 million baht to the PKW joint venture (PN Synchronize, W. and Associates Group, and KP Consultants & Management) for project supervision)”
“Financial data for 2023 shows total assets of 1.36 billion baht and total liabilities of 3.11 billion baht…No corporate income tax was reported.”
Before the quake cruelly singled out this particular high rise out of all the hundreds and hundreds of tall buildings that dot the Bangkok skyline, it was the pride and joy of a large Jinan-based Chinese construction company, well versed in railway-related engineering, but inexperienced in tall building construction.
At the outset, the Tenth Bureau of China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) exhibited no reticence in bringing attention to the juicy contract for the “first high-rise building for the bureau overseas.” Indeed, it served as a poster child for China’s success in penetrating the lucrative markets of neighboring nations with promotional posts on Douyin, Weibo and other social media.
CREC’s English language blurb proudly states that it "sent strong troops overseas" on the Belt and Road "taking entry into the Thai market" to construct the Audit Office Building in Bangkok.
The mega-power firm behind the wildly successful project is described thusly:
“China Railway No. 10 is a super-large state-held cross-industry, transnational construction corporation, a Super Class General Contractor of Railway Engineering Construction, Highway Projects, bridge, tunnel, track-laying, girder-erection, bed and surface…”
Among positive attributes too long to detail, CREC No. 10 is also self-described as “a Class B General Contractor status in blasting demolition…”
It will take thorough forensic analysis to determine what caused the building to wobble, lose structural integrity and completely collapse within minutes of the tectonic jolt, but already questions are being raised on social network forums about quality control, extravagant expenditures, numerous delays, corruption, labor contracting and other less-than-transparent financial moves that apparently riddled the delay-ridden project since its inception in 2019.
Online discussions critique the design itself, the exposed skinny pillars on the bottom, the flat slab build, the lack of beams and dependence on columns for support. Prof. Amorn Pimanmas, Department of Civil Engineering, Kasetsart University told Thai PBS that the collapse of the Office of the Auditor General's Building “can be assumed to have come from the columns on the lower floor which are longer than the other floors… a possible weak link.”
With so many people wondering what happened, some blaming it on low quality steel, conspiracy theories are not far behind: “The bridge that collapsed in Myanmar was also built by China.”
It is Thailand’s sorrow that an oft-delayed, at times disputatious, almost-completed glass, cement and steel block built with the sweat and tears of low-paid labor ended up taking the lives of so many workers, local and foreign, as it tumbled and imploded into a smoking pile of debris right next to the popular Chatuchak market and the new train station.
It hurts Bangkok’s image, but it’s also a serious public relations setback for China’s Belt and Road scheme.
Whether by chance or design, CREC’s 2020 contracts to lay cable and then its big contract to build a tower next to Thailand’s main train station gave the Jinan-based construction firm credibility. In 2023, when it came to making a bid for the lucrative Saraburi-Khorat segment of the high speed rail project, it won hands down.
Business pride can be a fickle thing. Hours after the quake, CREC’s website detailing it’s intimate role in building the magnificent Bangkok Audit tower was taken off line.
It now returns a “404 Not Found” message.
Gone are the red banner photos heralding the signing of the contract, the banquet gatherings of Thai and Chinese bureaucrats, the edifying scenes of the work in progress and the artist’s sketch of what the gleaming tower would look like when completed. But screen-saved webpages and third-party posts give a rough idea of CREC project hubris at its height:
“In response to the national initiative of the Belt and Road China Railway Tenth Bureau set up an Asia-Pacific branch, taking entry into the Thai market as the first step to fully open up new Southeast Asian markets!”
“In the last month of 2020, China Railway 10th Bureau has another big move! The National Audit Office of Thailand…will be implemented by China Railway 10th Bureau as a whole. It is the highest height and largest single-building construction project undertaken by the Tenth bureau so far.”
“The contract value is 2.136 million baht (RMB 480 million) slated for a 32-story tower.”
“In other big moves, the Tenth Bureau underbid the competition for secure a contract on a 13000 square meter passenger air terminal in Narathiwat, Thailand.”
For reasons of pride, practicality and politics, China-led projects work closely with Thai partners, or at least appear to be doing so, even if it’s a China designed and implemented project through and through. Once again, CREC teamed up with the major Thai construction firm ITD (Italian-Thai) to get a piece of the coveted work.
“In July 2023, the ITD-CREC No.10 joint venture secured a 9.34-billion-baht contract for the Thai-Chinese high-speed railway project, specifically covering the Kaeng Khoi–Klang Dong and Pang Asoke–Bandai Ma sections.”
In the wake of the tragic collapse of a railway tunnel during construction near Khorat last August, CREC publicity about its adjacent project has become scant and it is difficult to trace their involvement, if any, in the tunnel, but the tunnel accident took place in the zone of the ITD-CREC No.10 joint venture segment of the Sino-Thai railway. The collapse killed three workers, two from China, one from Burma.
News reports about the deadly construction beam collapse on Rama II Road on March 15, 2025 implicate joint venture partner Italian-Thai, but not China Railway.
Whether by unhappy coincidence or by an as-yet-to-be demonstrated pattern of systemic negligence, once-heralded mega-construction projects have been unmitigated disasters for the people of Thailand.
Addendum 1:
3.31 update: THAI MEDIA STANDS UP!
Hopes fade for dozens of trapped workers as the sad vigil by the wreckage of the building continues. Ten dead bodies have been recovered as of Sunday, another 77 workers are still unaccounted for. Meanwhile, the sometimes timid Thai media goes into overdrive, asking tough questions and searching for answers.
PPTV is one of the several Thai TV news outlets aggressively looking into irregularities and inconsistencies in the ill-fated Audit Office Building project. A recent PPTV Thai-language report points out that CREC-related materials were deleted from the web in the last few days but traces of their corporate PR can be found elsewhere, including on the website of Goalfore, a Beijing-based advisory firm assisting Chinese enterprise abroad.
PPTV is also looking into irregularities on the Thai side of the State Audit building contract by which the routine inspection conducted by government anti-corruption authorities was apparently evaded from the beginning.
The Manager Online has a story about the China connections of Mr. Pisit Leelavachiropas, the former Auditor General of Thailand who holds an honorary Professorship from the Nanjing University of Auditing. The Manager also cites an AP report about China Railway’s Tenth Bureau being sanctioned by the US in 2020.
Suthithai Yoon, a veteran TV journalist, has addressed this and other questions in his regular Thai-language podcast, asking, “Who is going to audit the auditors?”
Matichon newspaper reports today on the discovery at the disaster site of steel bars of questionable quality, some traced to Xin Ke Yuan, a Rayong-based company.
Thai officials are looking into irregularities concerning the ITD-CREC No.10 joint venture, examining offices and demanding answers. Interior Minister Anuthin Charnvirakul had a meeting with Chinese ambassador Han Zhiqiang where they “pledged cooperation” in the investigation of the building collapse.
According to Khaosod English on March 31, the Office of the Auditor General issued its first statement since the incident:
Building Design: Presented by FORUM ARCHITECT Co. Ltd. in 2018 and Meinhardt (Thailand) Ltd. (structural design) with a budget of 73 million baht.
Construction: Budget of 2,560 million baht ($75.4 million), contracted to ITD-CREC (Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited) joint venture with China Railway for 2,136 million baht ($62.9 million), below the median price. Payments of 966.80 million baht ($28.5 million) have already been disbursed.
Supervision: Contracted to PKW Joint Venture for 74.65 million baht ($2.2 million) to supervise and certify material quality testing.
Thai PBS is another reputable news source that has been closely monitoring the case, dispatching journalist to the collapsed building zone and related corporate sites to comb for clues and look for answers. They caught footage of unidentified individuals, including two of at least four Chinese nationals who were questioned in a follow up police investigation suspected of removing evidence around the disaster site. Those accused of taking documents said it was for “insurance purposes.”
Channel Three TV news reports on substandard steel which appears old and rusted
Channel 8 News says a team of 500 officials has been sent to inspect the rubble.
After 8 AM on April 1, machine excavation equipment will be used to clear the site.
April 1, 2025 updates:
PRACHATHAI: Update on China Railway No. 10 (Thailand)
“According to the Thai Department of Business Development, Chinese national Zhang Chuanling holds 49% of the shares, the maximum foreign ownership allowed in a Thai company. The remaining shares are held by Thai nationals: Sophon Meechai (40.80%), Prachuab Sirikhet (10.20%), and Manas Sri-anant with just 3 shares.
China Railway No.10 Engineering Group Co. Ltd. also signed a contract valued at 9 billion baht for the Thai–China high-speed railway development (Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima), covering a total of 30 km. In 2019, the company took on the construction of the Office of the National Water Resources. This led to public speculation as the company was founded only in 2018, but won a government project with a value of nearly one billion baht the following year.
NATION:“4 Chinese caught fleeing with documents from SAO building, face charges”
“The 32 documents consist of various types of paperwork. During initial questioning, the four Chinese nationals claimed they entered the area to retrieve the documents for an insurance claim. The documents had been stored in a container serving as a temporary office for the company. The charges include unauthorized entry into a restricted area, which carries a penalty of up to three months in prison, a fine of up to 6,000 baht, or both. Police are also reviewing the seized documents to determine any connection to the building's collapse and will be questioning all relevant parties as part of the ongoing investigation.”
Some miscellany:
Portal for finding job at China Railways Number Two in Thailand shows zero visitors:
A CREC 10 want ad originally posted on or around March 28. The original is in Thai, here rendered roughly into English by Google Translate:
A similar ad, in the Thai original, looking for a Thai engineer to supervise water, electric and sanitation systems at a project in Phrae Province.
The English-language page for CREC News returns a “404 Not Found” at the moment.
A prolific poster on China-related matters on X found a CREC 10 linked article by Zou Wen singing praise of the superb construction techniques of the doomed Audit building. He wisely screen saved the post, as it’s since been taken down:
https://qikanchina.com/thesis/view/8420027
“archived page in case the article is removed”
https://web.archive.org/web/2025032908
Excerpts of Zou Wen’s CREC report on the Audit Building design before it was taken off the internet. Auto-translated from the original Chinese by Google Translate.
Addendum 2:
4.1 update on Thai media coverage of the ongoing rescue and investigation into the collapsed State Audit Building
Khaosod and other news sources, less than convinced by the self-exonerating statement, are taking a hard look at the Office of the Auditor General despite the boilerplate mea culpa above.
An excerpt of a follow-up statement by the Thailand State Auditor in response to unwanted media attention on irregularities in the commissioning, pricing and construction of the State Audit office building:
“Take a deep breath, hold hands tightly and take a step forward together.”
“In the face of criticism we feel is unfair, we will be patient, tolerant, avoid confrontation and refrain from retaliation against those with negative opinions.”
