reader Posted April 19 Posted April 19 From Bangkok Post The Department of Special Investigation has arrested a Chinese executive of the construction company that was building the State Audit Office tower in Bangkok, where dozens of people died when it collapsed during the March 28 earthquake. Zhang Chuanling was taken into custody at a hotel in the Ratchadaphisek area of the capital on Saturday, the DSI announced. He is one of four people sought on arrest warrants for being nominees of China Railway No.10 (Thailand) Co (CREC). The three others are Thai nationals: Manas Sri-anan, Prachuap Sirikhet and Sophon Meechai, according to the DSI. The four were listed as executives of the Thai subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned construction firm, which was in a joint venture with SET-listed Italian-Thai Development Plc. The two contractors formed the ITD-CREC consortium that was building the 30-storey State Audit Office headquarters in Chatuchak district of Bangkok. Continues at https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3006494/executive-of-contractor-for-doomed-bangkok-building-arrested TMax and tm_nyc 2 Quote
reader Posted yesterday at 01:35 PM Author Posted yesterday at 01:35 PM Find new evidence in high-rise collapse From Bangkok Post The State Audit Office (SAO) has issued a statement explaining the decision to reduce the thickness of the walls of the elevator shafts at its new 30-storey building, which allegedly contributed to the structure's collapse during an earthquake. PKW joint venture was contracted by the SAO to supervise the project. A joint venture between Forum Architect Co and Meinhardt (Thailand) was contracted to design the building. The construction contractor found that the size of the walls, combined with other decoration materials, would reduce the width of the corridor, which could violate a ministerial regulation issued by the Interior Ministry and the Building Control Act. This prompted the contractor to seek advice from the construction supervisor and the construction designer. The designer recommended that the shaft's walls near the corridor be reduced from 30cm to 25cm with steel reinforcements added, the SAO said. The change was verified by the supervisor and the designer, and the revised blueprint was sent back to the contractor. The change was also endorsed by the Auditor-General and the State Audit Commission, according to the statement. Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong previously said the decision to trim the walls of the shafts could have contributed to the building's collapse. Pol Col Tawee said investigators are concerned about the shaft walls, as they are significantly thinner than those built in comparable buildings. Typically, he said, the walls should be about 60 centimetres thick, but those at the SAO building were only 25cm. Continues at https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3010760/elevator-shaft-walls-now-in-focus Quote
