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The Independent
22-04-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Thailand arrests Chinese executive linked to Bangkok tower that collapsed during earthquake
Thailand's authorities arrested a Chinese executive linked to the construction company responsible for a high-rise tower that collapsed during the 28 March earthquake in Bangkok, killing at least 47 people. Zhang Chuanling was detained at a hotel in the capital on Saturday and special investigators sought to extend his detention by 12 days, local media reported. He is among four individuals wanted for allegedly using Thai nationals as nominee shareholders to conceal Chinese control of China Railway No 10 (Thailand) Co, a subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned firm. The company was part of a joint venture with Italian-Thai Development Plc to build the ill-fated 30-storey state Audit Office tower in the Chatuchak district of Bangkok. According to justice minister Tawee Sodsong, investigators have found credible evidence that the company used the three Thai nationals as proxies to conceal foreign control. The four men are accused of breaching Thailand's Foreign Business Act, which limits foreign ownership in local companies to 49 per cent, according to Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI). Mr Zhang is listed as holding a 49 per cent stake in China Railway No. 10 (Thailand), according to Thailand's corporate registry. On Tuesday, the Bangkok Post reported that three Thai men accused of acting as nominees for the Chinese state-owned construction company involved in the collapsed State Audit Office building were brought before the court. They denied the allegations and were remanded in custody for 12 days to allow further investigation. None of the men sought bail. Thai prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been under increasing public pressure following the collapse of the 30-storey government building. She has ordered a full investigation into all Thai projects involving China Railway No. 10 (Thailand). The company is involved in around a dozen other projects across Thailand. The 7.7-magnitude earthquake on 28 March claimed over 3,700 lives in Myanmar. In Thailand, 47 people were killed – most at the site of the building collapse – while another 47 remain missing. While the project was a joint venture with Thai firm Italian-Thai Development, workers say China Railway 10th was effectively in charge of daily operations. Meanwhile, on Monday, Thai officials said that steel rods supplied by Xin Ke Yuan Steel, also partly owned by Chinese nationals, failed safety tests, with two types found at the collapse site not meeting standards. The company has denied these allegations, claiming all their products passed inspections and that they are being treated unfairly, though they declined to address the specific failed rods.
New York Times
21-04-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Thailand Arrests Executive Linked to Bangkok Tower Felled by Earthquake
The authorities in Thailand have arrested an official linked to a Chinese state-owned company that was part of a consortium developing the only building that collapsed in Bangkok during last month's earthquake, which killed dozens of people at the site. The Thai police arrested the man, a Chinese national identified only by his surname, Zhang, in Bangkok on Saturday. He was held after a Thai court issued arrest warrants for four board members of a company called China Railway 10th (Thailand), according to Thailand's Department of Special Investigation. Local news media identified him as Zhang Chuanling, who worked for a subsidiary of China Railway 10th Engineering Group, a state-owned firm. The three others, all Thai nationals, are on the run. The four men are accused of violating the Foreign Business Act, which forbids foreigners from owning more than 49 percent of a business. Investigators have found credible evidence, according to Thailand's justice minister, Tawee Sodsong, that the company had used the three Thai people as stand-ins for other foreigners. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra of Thailand is facing growing public pressure to account for the shocking collapse of the 30-story building, which was being built to house the nation's State Audit Office. She has called for a full investigation into all projects in Thailand involving China Railway 10th, which was largely in charge of constructing the doomed building and whose contractors tried to remove documents from the site after the disaster. The company has about a dozen other projects in Thailand. The swift toppling of the tower also drew widespread attention because the earthquake's epicenter was more than 600 miles away, in neighboring Myanmar. The death toll in Thailand from the March 28 earthquake stands at 47, with another 47 still missing but almost certainly dead. Nearly all of the fatalities were at the building collapse. The joint venture developing the tower included a Thai firm, Italian-Thai Development. But according to workers, daily operations were run by China Railway 10th. Construction workers in Bangkok told The New York Times that China Railway 10th underpaid contractors, who turned to lower quality materials and used columns narrower than usual. Thai officials who tested twisted metal from the ruins said they found substandard steel bars — made by a Thai factory with Chinese owners that the authorities had shut down in December. An anti-corruption watchdog also said it had flagged construction irregularities. A man called Zhang Chuanling is listed as a 49 percent shareholder in China Railway 10th (Thailand), according to the Thai company database. Mr. Zhang could not be reached for comment and it was unclear who his lawyer is. Muktita Suhartono contributed reporting from Jakarta.
The Star
21-04-2025
- Business
- The Star
Probe into Thai building collapse widens following arrest of China Railway boss
BANGKOK: The director of China Railway No. 10 (Thailand) Co, Ltd who was arrested on Saturday (April 17) over investigations into the collapsed building project, following an earthquake, has been remanded in custody by the Criminal Court. The arrest of Chinese national Chuanling Zhang by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) follows a joint operation by senior law enforcement officials, including Justice Minister Pol Col Tawee Sodsong and DSI Director-General Pol Lt Col Yutthana Praedam. Zhang faces allegations under the Foreign Business Act, accused of conducting business activities prohibited to foreign nationals or requiring prior authorisation, with the company allegedly complicit in these actions. He was apprehended at a hotel in the Ratchadaphisek area of Bangkok and brought to the DSI headquarters for questioning on Saturday. During initial inquiries, Zhang acknowledged knowing Binling Wu but distinguished his position, portraying Wu as an external figure rather than a representative of the Chinese government or a state-owned enterprise, unlike himself. DSI investigators have reportedly found that Wu holds shares in several companies, all of which utilise the same group of Thai individuals as directors. While no direct link between Wu and China Railway Co, Ltd has been established, the connections among these three Thai directors are under scrutiny, with authorities gathering evidence to ascertain their potential involvement in any wrongdoing. Crucially, DSI investigation reports also indicate that the initial director of China Railway No. 10 (Thailand) Co., Ltd. was not Zhang but Dong Xia. In the latest developments on Monday, Pol Capt Surawut Rangsai, deputy director-general of the DSI, and Pol Maj Woranan Srilam, the DSI spokesperson, confirmed that Zhang, who holds a 49% stake in China Railway No. 10 (Thailand) Co, Ltd. – the firm behind the collapsed State Audit Office building – was presented to the Criminal Court for his initial detention hearing. Upon arrival at court, Zhang remained impassive and declined to comment on whether he had instructed three Thai individuals to act as nominee directors to establish the company. Following extensive questioning, which remains ongoing due to the case's broad implications and the suspect's foreign nationality, raising concerns about potential flight risk, the court will now decide on the matter of bail. DSI spokesperson Pol Maj Woranan revealed that the suspect had denied the allegations, maintaining he was a legitimate representative of a Chinese state-owned enterprise sent to invest in Thailand on behalf of the Chinese government, holding a 49% stake in the company. He claimed to lack specific details regarding the Thai shareholders, focusing his statements on his own involvement. However, he admitted to knowing the three Thai directors but declined to comment on whether they were hired as nominees. Further details were withheld as they form part of the ongoing investigation. Crucially, the questioning has unearthed connections that investigators are urgently pursuing, including allegations that the Thai directors borrowed a substantial sum of 2 billion baht from a Chinese individual, with the source of these funds now under scrutiny. The DSI is currently tracing the financial movements of the three Thai directors, noting that their apparent financial standing does not align with their involvement in such significant business dealings or specialised professional roles. The DSI is actively seeking to apprehend the three Thai directors, with leads suggesting they remain in Thailand. While the initial aim was simply to gather information from them to complete the overall picture, their failure to come forward and the accumulation of sufficient evidence has led the DSI to obtain arrest warrants to compel their cooperation. The DSI emphasised its commitment to due process, stating that while initial evidence from complainants justified the arrest warrants, they will now also consider the accounts and evidence presented by the accused to determine whether the allegations can be refuted. - The Nation/ANN
Times of Oman
21-04-2025
- Business
- Times of Oman
Chinese executive of firm constructing collapsed high-rise in Bangkok arrested
Bangkok: Authorities in Thailand have arrested a Chinese executive of the construction company responsible for building an office building in Bangkok that collapsed during the March 28 earthquake, killing dozens of people, according to local media reports. Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) took into custody Zhang Chuanling, a Chinese national, on Saturday. He is one of four people wanted on arrest warrants for allegedly acting as nominees for the Thai-owned subsidiary of a Chinese construction firm, the Bangkok Post reported. The firm was building the 30-storey State Audit Office headquarters in Chatuchak district of Bangkok, which collapsed after an earthquake of magnitude that struck central Myanmar on March 28. A search is ongoing for the other three suspects, who are all Thai nationals, the report in the Bangkok Post added. On Saturday, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration said there were 103 victims from the collapse. Of them, nine were injured, 47 were confirmed dead, and 47 remain missing. As per a report in the Thai news outlet, The Nation, preliminary findings by of a joint investigation by the DSI and the Royal Thai Police. have revealed that three Thai nationals were used as proxy shareholders on behalf of foreign interests, violating Thailand's Foreign Business Act. "Financial records uncovered transactions exceeding 2 billion baht linked to loans involving Chinese executives. These financial arrangements paved the way for China Railway No.10 (Thailand) to secure a government contract via a joint venture, raising suspicions of illicit bidding practices," as per the report in The Nation. 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. As per local media reports, officials are examining whether construction materials--specifically steel and cement--met industrial standards under the Industrial Product Standards Act. Investigators are reviewing design documents, project supervision records, and nine rounds of design modifications, some of which may involve forged signatures from engineers and supervisors.
Japan Times
21-04-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Exec linked to Bangkok building collapse arrested
Thai authorities said they have arrested a Chinese executive at a company building a Bangkok skyscraper that collapsed in a major earthquake, leaving dozens dead. The 30-story tower was reduced to an immense pile of rubble when a 7.7-magnitude quake struck neighboring Myanmar last month, killing 47 people at the construction site and leaving another 47 missing. Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong told a news conference Saturday that a Thai court had 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 Saturday that one of the four had been arrested — a Chinese "company representative" who they named as Zhang. 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% shareholder in the firm, while the three Thai citizens have a 51% stake in the company. But 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% of shares in a company. Separately, 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. Earlier this month, Thai safety officials said the testing of steel rebars — struts used to reinforce concrete — from the site has found that some of the metal used was substandard. The skyscraper was the only major building in the capital to fall in the catastrophic March 28 earthquake that has killed more than 3,700 people in Thailand and neighboring Myanmar.
