Bangkok tower collapse: Chinese contractors under scrutiny amid ‘tofu building' claims
Thailand 's capital during last week's earthquake has raised questions about the use of shoddy building materials and alleged corruption in the Thai construction industry tied to Chinese contractors.
Advertisement
At least 13 people died when the State Audit Office tower in Bangkok's Chatuchak district crumbled to the ground on Friday, with thermal imaging suggesting scores of bodies remain buried in the wreckage.
The under-construction skyscraper was the only building in the city to collapse, despite thousands of others swaying and cracking from the tremor, whose epicentre was in neighbouring
Myanmar
Construction on the tower – a joint venture between Thailand's Italian-Thai Development company and China Railway Number 10 Engineering Group, a local subsidiary of China's state-owned China Railway Group – began in 2020, but the US$60 million project had already faced delays and allegations of irregularities.
A composite picture of satellite images shows the under-construction tower in Bangkok on December 25 (left) and after it had collapsed on Friday. Photo: Planet Labs PBC/Reuters
Tests on steel rebar used in the building revealed substandard materials in some samples, according to Nontichai Likhitaporn, inspections director at the Thai Industrial Standards Institute. Investigators have yet to confirm whether the materials caused the collapse, however.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
HKFP
a day ago
- HKFP
Thousands of men shared non-consensual intimate photos on Telegram: Chinese media
Thousands of men allegedly shared intimate photos and videos of their girlfriends without consent on the Telegram messaging app, Chinese media reported, sparking widespread outcry against secret filming and calls to better protect women. Pornography in China is illegal, and conservative social attitudes towards women remain the norm, often reinforced by state media and popular culture. It comes after a Chinese university expelled a female student this month for 'damaging national dignity' over videos posted by a Ukrainian esports player on Telegram suggesting they had been intimate. The Chinese state-owned Southern Daily reported this week a woman had discovered that photos of her taken unknowingly had been shared in a Telegram forum with over 100,000 users, mostly Chinese men. Members of the forum also shared photos of their girlfriends, ex-girlfriends and wives, according to a commentary in the Guangming Daily, an outlet backed by China's ruling communist party. Revelations of the group have sparked widespread outcry online. 'We are not…'content' that can be randomly uploaded, viewed and fantasised about,' read one comment on Instagram-like Red Note. 'We can no longer remain silent. Because next could be me, or it could be you.' A related hashtag has been viewed more than 230 million times on social media platform Weibo since Thursday. The largest group, called 'Mask Park', has since been taken down, but smaller spinoffs remain active, according to women contacted by Southern Daily. Telegram encrypts its users' messages and is banned in China, but it is accessible using a virtual private network. AFP has contacted Telegram for comment. 'Nightmares for life' The incident has drawn comparisons to a case in South Korea dubbed 'Nth Room', in which a man blackmailed dozens of women into taking sexually explicit videos and sold them on Telegram. Chinese women have taken to social media to detail their own experiences being filmed and photographed by men in public. 'What criminals consider 'regular' for them may be nightmares that countless women can't escape for the rest of their lives,' one woman said, sharing an encounter on Douyin. Chinese police have cracked down on illegal filming, arresting hundreds of people in 2022 over clandestine surveillance activities. But women's rights are sensitive territory in China — over the last decade, authorities have suppressed almost every form of independent feminist activism. #MeToo activist Sophia Huang Xueqin was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of 'inciting subversion of state power' after she became a symbol of the country's stalled feminist movement. Chinese authorities have yet to publicly announce any action against the Telegram group. But the Guangming Daily commentary urged 'accountability' for the organisers of the Telegram group, and empathy for the people filmed. Improving law enforcement would 'enhance the overall sense of security, free women from the fear of being spied on and make privacy boundaries a truly untouchable red line', it said.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
China on Thai-Cambodian conflict; Taiwan recall vote: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP's biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing China and Europe should foster a 'healthy' economic relationship characterised by both competition and cooperation, the Chinese premier told European Union leaders and businesses on Thursday. China will continue to play a 'constructive role' in helping to ease regional tensions, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday, as Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged fire on their border for a second day. Chinese researchers have manufactured the world's largest barium gallium selenide (BGSe) crystal, a breakthrough that could pave the way for ultra-high-power laser weapons capable of zapping satellites from the ground.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
How China's new Information Support Force gears military up for PLA modernisation
China's new Information Support Force (ISF) has stepped up joint training with other military branches, showcasing an integrated combat system and increased mobile and decentralised deployment capabilities, according to the official paper of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Advertisement This includes a new training approach featuring the 'embedding' of small ISF teams into the PLA's air, naval and ground forces to offer real-time information support. Established in April 2024 as part of the PLA's modernisation push, the force is tasked with coordinating the application of network information systems within the Chinese military. While official information has been limited, recent PLA Daily reports have offered a rare glimpse into the operations of the force – which also plays a pivotal role in incorporating advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) into the military's decision-making and combat systems. 02:09 China stages drone and counter-drone warfare demonstration China stages drone and counter-drone warfare demonstration In the 15 months since the force's establishment, restructuring measures such as setting up a new ISF base had been implemented down to the frontline levels, the PLA Daily said.
