Terror and panic were the order of the day in Thailand on Friday following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake which, despite being more than 1,000 kilometres away in neighbouring Burma, was also strongly felt in this country. The tremors even caused a 30-storey building under construction to collapse within seconds, leaving 11 people dead and dozens injured and missing.

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While rescue efforts continue to try to find survivors in the rubble, the authorities have launched an investigation to try to determine the exact causes of the collapse of this skyscraper, located very close to the well-known Chatuchak open-air market, in front of the rest of the buildings that were left standing. The country’s industry minister, Ekkanat Promphan, has assured that the reasons could be varied and that they are now reviewing the building plans, the plans for the building, as well as the material used in it and the quality of the same.

The plot thickens
…substandard steel used on collapsed Bangkok building by chinese company….caught trying to retrieve documentation from the site pic.twitter.com/XTGyF7yRWZ

— ben dover (@paulcollins4) March 30, 2025

As the Daily News reports, the latter is precisely the point that is attracting the most attention from the authorities at the moment because of the steel used in the construction. According to Promphan, officials have found that six different types of steel were used during the works, all of them used in different sized bars. The vast majority also belong to the same manufacturer, but other steel bars come from up to three different manufacturers. For the time being, they are being analysed by the authorities, who are taking samples that will be sent to the Iron and Steel Institute.

However, the country’s industry minister also said that ‘fake’ material may have been used. He said this at a press conference in Bangkok, where he did not want to give more details, but he did say that he sees ‘some irregularities’ in the process. ‘We will have to see what the size and manufacturer of the steel is, I don’t want to reveal that yet. We will first check whether the steel meets the standards and specifications and when the results are known they will be sent to the investigation committee. I don’t want to accuse anyone yet, but I can say one thing: We are shocked by what we have seen,’ he said.

If the steel used is found to be behind the collapse of the building, the factory that produces it could be ordered to stop production, according to the media, and its licence could be revoked. In addition, its licence could be revoked and the authorities might not allow it to continue selling the material.

⚠️ The collapsed Bangkok Audit Building was under construction & not even under full load. Used Imported steel from china. Chinese construction firm "China Railway" proudly advertised their motto as “We build the strong building” #earthquake #MyanmarEarthquake #Bangkok pic.twitter.com/7AFhUqiMLT

— World Wave (@worldwaveindex) March 30, 2025

In parallel to the investigation, 48 hours after the tragedy, the authorities are still trying to find survivors in the rubble of the building, although the truth is that for the moment they have only been able to rescue one person alive and several lifeless bodies, and every hour that passes reduces the chances of finding survivors. 2We remain hopeful and continue our efforts as we believe there is still a chance of finding survivors inside,” said Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt.

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Rescue teams are using dogs, drones, a thermographic camera to detect body heat and even 3D scans of the structure to locate people in the mountain of rubble. Work has been going on day and night at the site since last Friday.

-Thailand News (TN)