DSI Director-General Has Ordered an Investigation into the collapse of State Audit Office of the Kingdom of Thailand Building under construction following an Earthquake, Designating It as a Special case with Three Alleged Offenses: Nominee Arrangements, further investigation Thai Industrial Standards, and Bid Rigging

DSI Director-General Has Ordered an Investigation into the collapse of State Audit Office of the Kingdom of Thailand Building under construction following an Earthquake, Designating It as a Special case with Three Alleged Offenses: Nominee Arrangements, further investigation Thai Industrial Standards, and Bid Rigging

On Wednesday, April 2, 2025, at 2:00 PM, Police Major Yutthana Praedam, Director-General of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), along with Police Major Worranan Srilum, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection Crime and DSI Spokesperson, gave a press briefing to the media regarding the collapse of the 30-story State Audit Office of the Kingdom of Thailand building that was under construction following an earthquake, valued at 2.136 billion baht. The case has now been accepted as a special case. The briefing took place in front of Meeting Room 1, on the first floor of the DSI Headquarters.

Police Major Yutthana stated at the press briefing:

“Following yesterday’s meeting assigning relevant agencies to gather facts regarding the collapse of the under-construction State Audit Office of the Kingdom of Thailand building, we now have sufficient grounds to accept the case as a special case.

The investigation concerns violations of the Foreign Business Act, B.E. 2542 (1999), as we found that the directors of China Railway Number 10 (Thailand) Co., Ltd., which is registered as a joint venture with a Thai juristic person under the name ITD-CREC Joint Venture and is a contracting party in the construction, has Thai nationals holding 51% of shares. Preliminary investigations revealed that these three Thai nationals serve as directors and hold 51% shares in numerous other companies in partnership with foreign juristic person, which is inconsistent with their individual financial status. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate whether they are nominee shareholders holding shares or capital on behalf of foreign juristic person. Should this be substantiated, the company would be classified as a foreign juristic person under the Foreign Business Act, which prohibits foreign juristic person from engaging in construction business in Thailand. Furthermore, the investigation will be expanded to determine whether their contracts with state agencies involve unfair price competition, and whether substandard construction materials that may not comply with Thai Industrial Standards were used in the project. The Special Case Inquiry Official Team will urgently convene to determine the investigation’s direction and key inquiry points moving forward.”