Substandard steel bars used in Bangkok skyscraper that collapsed during earthquake, says Thai officials

By AFP April 1, 2025 | 07:31 pm PT

This general view shows cranes used to lift rescue workers at the site of an under-construction building collapse in Bangkok on April 1, 2025. Photo by AFP

Testing of steel rebars, struts used to reinforce concrete, from a Bangkok building that collapsed during an earthquake last week has found that some of the metal used was substandard, Thai safety officials said.

The 30-storey tower, still under construction, was to house government offices, but the shaking reduced the structure to a pile of rubble in seconds, killing at least 13 people and injuring nine.

It was the deadliest single incident in Thailand after Friday's 7.7-magnitude quake, with the majority of the kingdom's 20 fatalities thought to be workers on the building site and hopes fading for around 70 still trapped.

Sprawling Bangkok bristles with countless high-rise blocks, but none have reported major damage, prompting many to ask why the block under construction gave way.

"We have to investigate where the mistake happened," said Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who has ordered a probe into the materials and safety standards at the construction site.

"What happened from the beginning since it was designed? How was this design approved? This was not the first building in the country," she told reporters on Saturday.

The development near Bangkok's popular Chatuchak market was a joint project involving China Railway No. 10 Engineering Group (Thailand) -- an offshoot of China Railway Group (CREC), one of the world's largest construction and engineering contractors.

Industry Minister Akanat Promphan announced that a committee would be set up to investigate, saying one supplier of the steel had failed safety tests in December and may have its license withdrawn. He did not name the supplier.

Professor of Civil Engineering at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang Suchatwee Sunaswat said there were questions to be answered.

"We have to look at the design. At the beginning, how they calculate, how they design. And in the rescue mission, how they collect evidence at the same time," he told reporters on Saturday.

The local partner in the project, Italian-Thai Development (ITD) offered condolences on Monday to quake victims but said it was "confident" the incident would not impact its other projects.

Beijing-owned building conglomerate CREC is one of the world's largest construction and engineering contractors, with projects in more than 90 countries and regions, according to its website.

Local media said that four Chinese nationals were apprehended on Saturday for attempting to retrieve documents from the collapse site.

China is the largest source of foreign direct investment in Thailand, injecting $2 billion into the kingdom in 2024, according to Open Development Thailand.

Paetongtarn said an investigation into the collapse launched on Monday would not be "specific to one country".

"We do not want one particular country to think we are only keeping eyes on (it)," she said on Tuesday.

At a small shelter near the site on Monday, 45-year-old Naruemol Thonglek waited for news of her boyfriend, electrician Kyi Than, who was missing under the enormous mound of concrete and twisted metal being lifted by mechanical diggers.

"I'm devastated," she told AFP. "I've never seen anything like this in my entire life."