BANGKOK, Thailand – Thailand’s State Audit Office (SAO) will not evade accountability over the collapse of its new 2.14 billion baht office building under construction a year ago, a top official said on Monday.
Deputy Auditor General Suttipong Boonniti stated the agency has compiled 44,000 documents for external review following the disaster, which was triggered by an earthquake. Investigations by four engineering institutes revealed severe design flaws, particularly in shear walls and structural joints that failed to meet legal standards.
Authorities have indicted 23 suspects in connection with the collapse. The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is probing illegal foreign nominee businesses linked to the project, while corruption files have been forwarded to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
In terms of relief, the SAO has coordinated 129 million baht in compensation from insurance, state budgets, and staff donations. Families of the deceased received 1 million baht each in humanitarian aid.
The SAO has canceled all contracts and is seeking damages from builders to protect state interests under a cabinet resolution.
The agency currently has no plans to rebuild and will return the leased site to the State Railway of Thailand. Suttipong urged the public not to let the incident overshadow the work of the SAO’s 4,000 nationwide staff, vowing immediate legal action against any personnel found complicit in wrongdoing. (TNA)
