On 28 March 2025, a still under-construction building intended for the
State Audit Office collapsed in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
, Thailand, following
a devastating earthquake that occurred in
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
. It resulted in 92
confirmed deaths and 9 injuries, while 4
workers remained unaccounted for as of 14 May 2025.
Already
topped-out, the building was 30% complete and, at the time of collapse, undergoing piping and glass wall installation. The skyscraper was the only building affected by the earthquake in Thailand, and the collapse was one of the deadliest single instances of structural failure in Thailand's history.
Background
The skyscraper, located on
Kamphaeng Phet Road
Kamphaeng Phet Road (, , ) is a road in Thailand capital Bangkok, there are currently eight branches. The road is a site of MRT Blue Line station Kamphaeng Phet MRT Station, Kamphaeng Phet.
History
The road was constructed in the year 1978 by B ...
, next to
Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal
Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal (, , ; ), also known by its former name Bang Sue Grand Station (, , ; ), is the central station of Thailand. Located along the border of Chatuchak district and Bang Sue district, it replaced the existing Hua ...
and near the
Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok, was 33 stories tall, with a height of , prior to the collapse.
Construction had started in 2020 and the building topped out in April 2024 as per the
China Railway No.10 Engineering Group. The contractors were the joint venture between
Italian-Thai Development and China Railways Number 10 (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
At the time of the earthquake, the glass facade and internal installations were being added. The construction budget was 2.136 billion baht (USD 63 million).
Collapse
On 28 March 2025 at 12:50:52
MMT (06:20:52 UTC), a 7.7
strike-slip
In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...
earthquake
An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
struck the
Sagaing Region
Sagaing Region (, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative divisions of Myanmar, administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and longitude 94° 97' east. It is border ...
of Myanmar, with an
epicenter
The epicenter (), epicentre, or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates.
Determination
The primary purpose of a ...
close to
Mandalay
Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553.
Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...
, the country's second-largest city. Despite Bangkok being located more than 1,000 kilometers from the epicenter, heavy shaking was felt in the city due to the
supershear nature of the seismic rupture and Bangkok's soft soil amplifying the energy released by the earthquake, which led to the collapse.
At least 89 people died in the collapse, while nine others were injured and eight others were believed to be trapped under the rubble.
[ Among the dead were ten migrant workers from Myanmar and a Cambodian national.
]
Response
Rescue workers brought in excavator
Excavators are heavy equipment (construction), heavy construction equipment primarily consisting of a backhoe, boom, dipper (or stick), Bucket (machine part), bucket, and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house".
The modern excavator's ...
s to start combing the site for survivors. Excavators dredged piled-up soil and a crane was deployed to remove debris. The United States deployed personnel to assist in rescue efforts at the site. The Israeli embassy also sent a scanning device that was used to search for survivors.
Following the earthquake, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra
Paetongtarn Shinawatra (, , ; born 21 August 1986) is a Thai politician who is the 31st prime minister of Thailand since 2024 and leader of the Pheu Thai Party since 2023. A member of the Shinawatra family, she is the youngest child of the 23rd ...
visited the site of the collapse on the evening of 28 March. On 2 April, she visited the site again and met with relatives of the collapse victims. On 4 April, Bangkok's Governor, Chadchart Sittipunt
Chadchart Sittipunt (, , ; born 24 May 1966) is a Thai politician, engineer, and professor who is the incumbent Governor of Bangkok. He previously was Minister of Transport from 2012 to 2014.
Early life and education
Chadchart is the third s ...
, apologised for delays in rescue efforts. The Ministry of Labour announced that it would provide up to two million baht in compensation for relatives of each those who died in the collapse and cover the treatment of those injured. By 27 April, 38 million baht had been released by the ministry. On 31 March, a man was arrested for falsely claiming that his wife was trapped in the building.
By 6 May 2025, search-and-rescue operations had shifted to the lower portions of the building, where authorities expressed hope that "the ongoing search could yield more discoveries". Rescue operations ended on 13 May with 89 confirmed dead and seven others missing.
Investigation
On 28 March 2025, Paetongtarn ordered the formation of a committee of experts to investigate the collapse within a week. On 2 April, she visited the site again and met with relatives of the collapse victims. Investigators focused on whether "the construction quality, materials used, and whether building codes for earthquake resilience were adequately followed." On 30 March, Industry Minister Akanat Promphan
Akanat Promphan (; born 12 January 1986) is a Thai politician and Democrat MP who served as Private Secretary to his father-in-law Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban in the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva and as a spokesman for the Peop ...
said at an on-site news conference that "anomalies" had been found in the steel and samples taken.
In China, online discussion on the collapse of the building was censored in the same way as commentary on other Tofu-dreg projects
"Tofu-dreg project" () is a phrase used in the Chinese-speaking world to describe a very poorly constructed building, sometimes called just "Tofu buildings". The phrase was coined by Zhu Rongji, the former premier of the People's Republic of ...
.
Thailand's Ministry of Industry later said that one of the steel bars used in the collapsed building was substandard and came from a Chinese company, Xin Ke Yuan Steel, in Thailand. The company providing it had been ordered to close since December 2024.
On 19 April 2025, Police Colonel Tawee Sodsong
Police Colonel Tawee Sodsong () is a Thai politician, serving as Minister of Justice since 2023. He is also leader of the Prachachat Party. Sodsong oversaw the parole and release of former prime minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra following h ...
announced that a Chinese national who was a representative of China Railway No. 10 was arrested while three Thai company shareholders were issued with arrest warrants over the collapse. On 15 May, arrest warrants were issued for 17 individuals over the collapse, including former Italian-Thai Development president Premchai Karnasuta, who surrendered along with 14 other suspects in Bangkok. He denied the charges.
Related incident
Xin Ke Yuan Steel, which supplied sub-standard steel bars to SAO building, also supplied to a factory in Chon Buri. On 16 May 2025, a wall on the second floor of that factory collapsed.
See also
* 2025 Myanmar earthquake
On 28 March 2025 at 12:50:52 Myanmar Time, MMT (06:20:52 UTC), a 7.7–7.9 earthquake struck the Sagaing Region of Myanmar, with an epicenter close to Mandalay, the country's second-largest city. The strike-slip shock achieved a maximum Modif ...
* List of populated places affected by the 2025 Myanmar earthquake
* Dao Khanong Expressway Bridge collapse
References
{{reflist
2025 disasters in Thailand
2025 in Bangkok
Buildings and structures destroyed by the 2025 Myanmar earthquake
Filmed deaths during natural disasters
March 2025 in Thailand
2025 Myanmar earthquake