Although Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra had originally given 7 days for related government agencies to report to her as to why the 33-storey State Audit Office building was the only building in Thailand which collapsed due to the tremors from the deadly 7.7 magnitude quake in Myanmar two weeks ago, she has since extended the deadline to 90 days.
Three months is a long time, particularly in a society collectively suffering from a low attention span, including that of the Thai press ever chasing the next breaking news.
If anything, the task of recovering over sixty more bodies, that should reasonably be presumed to be lifeless, despite Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt still calling it a search and rescue mission as of today, 16 days after the incident, and to clear up 40,000 tonnes of concrete and steel will probably keep the press focused for the next few weeks, however.
Getting the answer as to what went wrong, and why it’s the only high-rise building which collapsed is imperative for the country to lay down further measures, if needed, to prevent the tragedy from striking again. This is not going to be easy as the co-constructors Italian-Thai Development and China Railway Number 10 – both are major firms, the latter a Chinese state enterprise, basically with the backing of the Chinese state itself as made apparent by a recent report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC Australia) that state-controlled Chinese media Xinhua news agency has deleted news about the collapsed building in connection with China Railway Number 10. This was probably a move by the Chinese state to limit the potential damage to the reputation of its state enterprise.
Two weeks on, some progress has been made by the government, however. Yesterday saw Minister of Industry Akanat Promphan ordering a raid at a Rayong-based Chinese steel bars manufacturer, Xin Ke Yuan, after a search order was granted by the court. Xin Ke Yuan, which supplied steel bars and rods for the construction of the State Audit Office building, has failed two quality tests. It is suspected that their products were substandard and may be a factor leading to the collapse of the building late last month. (Do note that Akanat is from the pro-junta United Thai Nations Party and once co-led massive protests against then PM Yingluck Shinawatra, which eventually led to the 2014 coup.)
This was followed by the Board of Investment cancelling the investment rights and privileges afforded to the Chinese firm on the same day after the court also ordered the suspension of the sales of products made by Xin Ke Yuan.
Moving on to the Thai side, there are also concerns as to how we can trust that a fair probe can be made against the State Audit Office (SAO). We have heard Deputy PM and Interior Minister Anutin Charnveerakul admitting to the press that he enjoys a close relationship with Auditor General Mr Monthien Charoenpol but will not help him due to the severity of the incident.
Might it not be best for PM Paetongtarn to politely remove Anutin from any roles related to the continued probe instead of having Anutin reporting to the PM about the progress of the probe? This is the least the PM can do to reassure the public that there won’t be any (potential) nepotism that would favor SAO and the auditor general.
What’s more, it would be gullible for the government and the public to believe whatever SAO leaders say at face value.
Monthien was heavily criticised for not even mentioning those who were killed, trapped, and injured when he wrote a note to his 4,000 officials. Also, he claims on Friday, two weeks after the building’s collapse, that he has been visiting the site since day 1 despite the fact that not a single news agency had spotted him at the site until two weeks after.
One of Monthien’s deputies also told a House Committee on Independent Organizations on Friday that he, or basically SAO, has no knowledge that the construction involved a Chinese firm. It took only a few hours after that for copies of the construction contract, clearly naming China Railway Number 10, to spread on social media along with a video of the contract signing where the name of the Chinese State Enterprise was read out.
____________
