Thai tycoon and engineers charged in fatal Bangkok building collapse
Premchai Karnasuta, the president of Italian-Thai Development Co, was among 17 individuals charged with 'professional negligence causing death,' Bangkok Deputy Police Chief Noppasin Poonsawat announced at a press briefing.
Noppasin confirmed that those who reported to the authorities on Friday formally denied the charges.
Many of the accused had previously issued public denials following mounting scrutiny in Thai media.
The collapse of the under-construction State Audit Office claimed 92 lives and left several individuals still unaccounted for.
It was the only building in Thailand to collapse during the quake, which devastated parts of Myanmar and killed over 3,700 people. While rescue operations have concluded, DNA efforts to identify the remains will continue.
Noppasin stated that expert analysis and evidence suggest the construction did not meet building codes or structural standards.
According to the Bangkok Post, investigations revealed 'structural flaws in the core lift shaft and substandard concrete and steel.'
Thai media have reported almost daily on alleged irregularities in the project, including dubious documentation and procedural lapses.
Much attention has focused on Italian-Thai Development's joint venture with China Railway No 10, a Chinese firm involved in global infrastructure projects.
Among those charged is Zhang Chuanling, a Chinese executive and director of the joint venture.
Zhang was arrested last month on separate allegations of violating Thai business law by allegedly using Thai proxies to unlawfully control the venture. Three Thai nationals were also detained in relation to that charge.
The Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the 17 individuals on Thursday. Noppasin confirmed that 15 turned themselves in on Friday morning, with the remaining two expected to follow later in the day.
This is not Premchai's first brush with the law. In 2019, he was convicted of poaching protected wildlife and served nearly three years in prison.
He was found guilty after rangers discovered his party in a wildlife sanctuary with the carcasses of several rare animals, including a black panther whose meat had been cooked.
The earthquake devastated large areas of central Myanmar, causing major damage in Mandalay and the capital Naypyitaw.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
2 days ago
- Euronews
The EU's growing list of online platforms under investigation
The list of online platforms suspected of breaching the EU's rules keeps growing. The latest to join the list: Temu. The European Commission says that under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) the Chinese e-commerce platform doesn't properly assess risks arising from illegal products sold on its website, including baby toys and small electronics. 'The Commission has adopted a preliminary decision under the Digital Services Act legislation when it comes to TEMU, where we have announced to that online marketplace that according to us it is in breach of the DSA when it comes to risks on the marketplace relating to the selling and dissemination of illegal products,' Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told Euronews. "The DSA is one of our tools to protect consumers across Europe. To protect them from what, when it comes to online marketplaces? Illegal products that are sold online. Algorithmic content that is thrown at you and that you don't even determine if you want to see it or not. When it comes, for example, to advertisement or gamification of certain systems on these online platforms. These are risks that we need to mitigate. To protect our consumers online," he added. Not only Temu The probe comes amid broader concerns that some online marketplaces allow the sale of goods that would not meet EU safety or regulatory standards if sold in physical stores. So far, including Temu, the Commission has opened 14 proceedings against 10 online platforms. Each case focuses on different aspects of compliance, ranging from product safety to content moderation and the protection of minors. The ongoing proceedings include X, which has been issued with preliminary findings over its compliance with obligations concerning the 'dissemination and amplification of illegal content.' There are also ongoing procedures against Tik Tok concerning, among other things, its risk management of addictive design and harmful content. Also under the spot is the protection of minors, on which preliminary findings have been reached, and election integrity. The TikTok Lite case was closed after TikTok offered commitments. The Commission found AliExpress (AliExpress) was not taking enough measures to counter illegal products. The Chinese company finally offered commitments and the Commission issued preliminary findings on other grievences. And according to an ongoing file, Meta's services Instagram and Facebook are also under scrutiny in cases related to the protection of minors, as well as on election integrity. Finally, there is a case open for the websites Stripchat, Pornhub, XNXX, Xvideos related to the protection of minors. Consumer Groups Call for Action The wave of investigations comes amid growing pressure from consumer protection groups, who argue that the DSA must be backed by real enforcement to have meaningful impact. 'The preliminary findings of the European Commission on Temu is a positive first step for European consumers. Last year, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) launched a complaint against TEMU because they are not doing enough to protect consumers against illegal and unsafe products that can be bought through their website,' Agustín Reyna, director general of European Consumer Organisation BEUC, told Euronews. 'What is at the stake is the safety of consumers. Because when consumers buy something online, they expect it to be safe. They don't wonder whether there are illegal chemicals being used in the production of these goods, or whether a certain product or household appliance might explode, or that a kid might choke with a toy. They expect the product to be safe, regardless of how cheap it might be, but they expect it to be safe. What we have identified with our members of all the national consumer organisations -that they have conducted mystery shopping exercises, testing over these products through Temu - is that you can buy and be exposed to a significant amount of illegal products. And the company today is not doing enough to protect consumers,' he added. According to the consumer organisation, the challenge now is to try to make the law work in practise. The legislation has been in place for nearly a year and a half, but so far none of the Commission probes have been wrapped up and no sanctions have been imposed yet. But with these platforms becoming very popular with Europeans the topic is urgent. 'Just to give you an idea, every year the number of parcels that enter into the EU through TEMU doubles. So we're talking about a significant number of products that enter the EU which are not compliant. And consumers do not know about that,' concluded the Director of BEUC. France Moves to Regulate Ultra Fast Fashion The investigation into Temu also comes at a time when EU member states are stepping up efforts to rein in ultra-fast fashion — a business model many experts say fuels overconsumption, environmental harm, and the exploitation of legal grey zones. In May 2024, France proposed groundbreaking legislation targeting ultra-fast fashion platforms. The French government explicitly named companies like TEMU and Shein as examples of platforms disrupting sustainability efforts, using aggressive social media marketing and gamified shopping to encourage impulse buying and throwaway culture. While the French proposal is still under negotiation, it reflects a growing consensus that ultra fast fashion — especially when delivered through unregulated online platforms — poses not just consumer safety risks, but also serious environmental and social concerns. It seems that a European Response is needed to a global problem. The convergence of issues — from illegal product sales to environmental destruction — has prompted calls for a more unified EU response. Experts say that relying on fragmented national enforcement is no longer viable in the face of global platforms that operate across borders, largely unchecked. As the Director General of BEUC put it, 'Europe can't win this battle one country at a time.' The Digital Services Act is a start. But for many, it's just the beginning.
AFP
2 days ago
- AFP
Old video of Cambodian homes gutted by fire falsely linked to border clashes
"Justice for Cambodia #ThailandStartedTheWar," reads the caption of a TikTok video shared on July 25, 2025. Khmer-language text superimposed on the clip says, "At noon I will shoot back for the people". The video, which was viewed more than 27,000 times, shows several buildings that appear to have been damaged by fire and people picking through the rubble. It surfaced a day after a long-standing dispute over contested border temples boiled over into open combat on Thailand and Cambodia's 800-kilometre (500-mile) boundary (archived link). Both sides blamed each other for firing first, while Thailand accused Cambodia of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital hit by shells and a petrol station hit by at least one rocket (archived link). The two countries signed a truce on July 29, after five days of strikes that killed at least 43 people on both sides. Image Screenshot of the false TikTok post captured on July 31, 2025, with a red X added by AFP The video was also shared in similar posts on Facebook and YouTube. But the clip does not show the aftermath of a Thai attack on Cambodia. Kampong Chhnang fire led to the same video shared on Facebook on July 10, two weeks before the latest border clashes (archived link). Even though the Khmer-language post makes no mention of it, most comments on the post link the clip to the Cambodia-Thailand conflict. Several users, however, said it shows the aftermath of a fire that occurred in the Kampong Chhnang province in 2023. Subsequent keyword searches led to more posts and a report by local media outlet Khmernote that contains similar photos about the fire that broke out on March 12, 2023 (archived here and here). The Khmernote report links to a verified Cambodian national police Facebook page showing more photos of the damage caused by the fire (archived link). Image Screenshot comparison of the false post video (left), the photo from Cambodian police (top right) and a social media video about the fire (bottom right), with matching elements marked by AFP AFP has also debunked other false claims linked to Cambodia-Thailand conflict.
AFP
2 days ago
- AFP
Video edited with motion graphics software falsely linked to Thailand-Cambodia conflict
"Thai F-16s scramble urgently, complete counterattack in 20 minutes," reads simplified Chinese text superimposed over a Red Note video shared on July 25, 2025. The video appears to show a fighter jet swooping over a city and firing a missile at a building, causing a huge explosion. Its caption adds: "Breaking! Cambodian military fired rockets at Thai civilian areas twice. In response, Thailand immediately deployed six F-16 fighter jets. They completed the mission, and returned safely within just 20 minutes." Image Screenshot of the false Red Note post captured on July 30, 2025, with a red X added by AFP The same clip was also shared on other Chinese social media platforms, including Douyin and Weibo. It surfaced as a long-standing dispute over contested border temples boiled over into open combat on Thailand and Cambodia's 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier on July 24. After five days of fighting that killed at least 43 people on both sides, the nations agreed to a ceasefire starting from July 29 (archived link). While the Thai military did scramble F-16 jets during the latest conflict, the circulating video does not show an airstrike on Cambodia (archived link). A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to several social media posts claiming it showed airstrikes carried out elsewhere, such as during the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in May. The earliest version of the video was posted on the "Unreal vfx" YouTube channel on May 16, 2023 (archived link). In the video's description, the user says it was made with Adobe After Effects -- motion graphics and visual effects software. In response to comments asking if the video showed real-life footage, they said it was motion graphics. Image Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and the YouTube clip posted in May 2023 (right) The user also posted two other videos using the same background with different effects -- one showing the building being struck by a meteor, causing an identical explosion to the one seen in the falsely shared clip (archived here and here). Image Screenshot comparison of the three videos shared by the YouTube user showcasing different visual effects on the same background AFP has also debunked other misinformation related to the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.
