A year after the collapse of Bangkok’s under-construction State Audit Office (SAO) headquarters, a new progress report has identified four major structural and construction failures that led to the building’s fall during the 28 March 2025 earthquake (see the CVU news article)
The 30-story government building, budgeted at 3.2 billion baht, collapsed while under construction, resulting in 95 fatalities and extensive surrounding damage. Investigations led by several Thai engineering institutions, including Chulalongkorn University and Kasetsart University, concluded that the structure did not meet required seismic performance standards.
The report identified four primary causes:
- failure of structural walls on the lower floors due to earthquake-induced shear forces
- concrete in key shear walls testing below required strength
- construction plans that did not comply with applicable regulations, reducing load-bearing capacity
- insufficient embedment depth of reinforcement steel at critical joints, particularly between link beams and shear walls
Authorities stated that these findings point to deficiencies in both design and construction execution, reinforcing earlier concerns raised by government officials.
Compensation payments to victims and their families have now exceeded 129 million baht, while multiple legal investigations are underway. Prosecutors have filed criminal charges against 23 individuals and companies, with additional reviews examining procurement compliance, potential corruption, and document falsification.
The case has intensified scrutiny of public-sector building oversight in Thailand, particularly regarding material standards, structural review, and seismic design compliance. Officials have indicated that lessons from the collapse will be used to strengthen future earthquake-resilient building standards for large-scale public projects.
Read more at Bangkok Post.