Why Thailand’s deadly construction accidents are sparking outrage and scrutiny

TROUBLES IN THE SYSTEM 

Investigators can often find the technical cause of accidents, such as human error or equipment failure.

But critics say construction safety faces broader systemic problems, pointing to lax regulation, poor enforcement, and corruption. A lengthy investigation determined that the building collapse in March, though triggered by an earthquake, was fundamentally caused by flawed structural design and effort to evade regulations.

“I don’t think Thailand fails in terms of the body of knowledge in engineering or even in the technical aspects,” said Panudech Chumyen, a civil engineering lecturer at Bangkok’s Thammasat University. 

“I think there’s a failure in our system; there are so many gaps that I don’t know where we should begin to close them.”

He said the safety challenges range from laxity in law enforcement to red tape and the lack of integration in safety policies among different stakeholders in projects. He also pointed to a shortage of independent assessors without conflicts of interest, which often results in performance reports that do not reflect reality.

CONCERN ABOUT THE CHINESE CONNECTION 

The involvement of Chinese companies in the building collapse, as well as troubled rail and road projects, has also drawn attention.

Wednesday’s train accident took place on a line that is part of a Thai-Chinese high-speed railway project linking the capital to northeastern Thailand. It is associated with an ambitious plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, which has caused controversy in many of its activities around the world, including corruption scandals.

Concern over Chinese construction practices increased after the collapse last year of the State Audit Office project, in which the Chinese company China Railway No. 10 was co-lead contractor with Italthai. 

Its Bangkok representative, Zhang Chuanling, was charged with violating Thailand’s Foreign Business Act by using Thai nationals as nominee shareholders to hide Chinese control of its local affiliate.

The collapse stunned Thais, with many taking to social media to vent their outrage. Images of so-called “tofu buildings” – a nickname for flimsy structures built with substandard materials – have gone viral, with users highlighting other projects linked to Chinese contractors. The phrase was popularised to describe such a damage after the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China.

China’s ambassador to Thailand, Zhang Jianwei, said Thursday that China requires its companies to follow the rules when participating in overseas projects, and that Beijing is willing to “guide Chinese companies to actively cooperate with the Thai authorities’ investigation”.