Chinese executive linked to Bangkok building collapse arrested

BANGKOK – The Thai authorities have arrested a Chinese executive for his ties to a company that was building a Bangkok skyscraper that collapsed in a major earthquake, leaving dozens dead.

The 30-storey tower was reduced to an immense pile of rubble when a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck neighbouring Myanmar in March, killing 47 people at the construction site and leaving another 47 missing.

Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong told reporters on April 20 that a Thai court issued arrest warrants for four individuals, including three Thai nationals, at China Railway No.10 for breaching the Foreign Business Act. The Department of Special Investigation, which is under the Justice Ministry, said in a statement that one of the four arrested was a Chinese “company representative” whom it named as Zhang Chuanling.

China Railway No.10 was part of a joint venture with an Italian-Thai firm to build the State Audit Office tower before its collapse.

Zhang is listed as a 49 per cent shareholder in the firm, while the three Thai citizens have a 51 per cent stake in the company.

But Mr Tawee told journalists that “we have evidence… that the three Thais were holding shares for other foreign independents”.

The Foreign Business Act says that foreigners may hold no more than 49 per cent of shares in a company.

Separately, Mr Tawee said several investigations related to the collapse were ongoing, including over the possibility of bid rigging and the use of fake signatures of engineers in construction supervisor contracts.