Arrest warrants issued for Premchai, 16 others over SAO building collapse

By:
On:
In: South-East Asia
Arrest warrants issued for Premchai, 16 others over SAO building collapse

PUBLISHED: 15 May 2025 at 19: 58

Construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta leaves the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Case Region 7 in Samut Songkhram province on June 11, 2019. He is among 17 suspects facing arrest warrants issued by the Criminal Court on Thursday for the collapse of the State Audit Office building after the March 28 earthquake. (Bangkok Post file photo)
On June 11, 2019, design magnate Premchai Karnasuta departs the Samut Songkhram province’s Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Case Region 7 on June 11, 2019. He is one of 17 suspects whose arrest warrants were issued by the Criminal Court on Thursday as a result of the State Audit Office building’s decline on March 28. ( Photo from Bangkok Post file )

In connection with the decline of the 2.1 billion-baht State Audit Office building in Bangkok, which was caused by the 7.7-magnitude disaster in northern Myanmar on March 28, the Criminal Court on Thursday approved arrest warrants for 17 people, including building billionaire Premchai Karnasuta. &nbsp,

Premchai, 71, the 71-year-old executive director of Italian-Thai Development Plc, and the other 16 defendants are accused of professional negligence causing death under parts 227 and 238 of the Criminal Code. &nbsp,

Engineers, supervisors, and contractors from three organizations: those in charge of the ITD-CREC joint venture ( Italian-Thai Development Plc and China Railway No. 1 ), design firms ( Forum Architect, Meinhardt Thailand ), and construction supervision firms. 10 Thailand ).

The property’s design, according to police investigators, had fundamental flaws in the primary lift shaft and subpar concrete and steel, which were in violation of safety standards. &nbsp,

92 people died, nine were injured, and four were missing as a result of the 30-storey building’s decline. &nbsp,

The research team, led by Pol Maj Gen Somkhuan Phuengsap, deputy director of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, requested permission from the Criminal Court on Tuesday to make the arrest of the 17 defendants.

In February 2018, the Supreme Court sentenced Premchai to a three-year and two-month prison word for shooting in the Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary.