BANGKOK, April 29 (TNA) – The relatives of the construction workers from the collapsed State Audit Office (SAO) building are still waiting for the remains of their loved ones to return home, even though today there is likely no miracle left. For the past 30 days, every sector has tried their best, hoping to erase the nightmare caused by the incident.
On the 1-month anniversary of the earthquake that caused the SAO building to collapse, today (April 28) is another day that the relatives of the workers in the SAO building regained some smiles when comedian Mum Jokmok brought papaya salad and encouragement to visit them. Some have been waiting for their children, some for their partners, for a full month now.
“Life goes on with hope” is a phrase the relatives use to comfort each other. Some cried until they had no tears left. During the first 100 hours, every family still had hope, but as time passed, everyone began to accept that miracles don’t happen.
This family lost their son who came to work here on the 24th floor. What worries them is their 5-year-old grandchild who doesn’t know where his father has gone and why his father hasn’t called even once in the past month. Now, they only want their son’s body back home.
“As a mother, I hoped my child would come out. It’s been so long, there’s probably no miracle left. I’ve accepted it, I have no hope now. It’s been a month. At first, I made a vow to ordain him if he survived. All the relatives made vows too, said Pranee Burimasuchat.
One month has passed, and the height of the rubble has decreased to 1.3 meters, a stark difference from the first day when the rubble was 26 meters high, equivalent to a 6-story building. As the rubble became lower, the number of fatalities increased. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) estimates that more than 30 people are still trapped inside the rubble.
The number of injured remains stagnant at 9 people, unchanged since the first day, while the number of deaths increases daily. Over the past month, officials have begun using heavy machinery to excavate the rubble from the top down, gradually reaching the area where more than 30 workers are believed to be trapped in the basement and the first floor.
Recent operations involve machinery excavation, while rescue workers on the building use binoculars to monitor. If any body parts are found, they will immediately notify the ground team to investigate.
Throughout the past month, the construction of the SAO building has been filled with questions about the transparency of the bidding process for China Railway No. 10 (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Since the incident, employees were found secretly moving some documents out of the building. It’s almost unbelievable that China Railway No. 10 (Thailand) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of a large Chinese state-owned enterprise, could operate in Thailand with a registered capital of 100 million baht but could bid for 27 government projects with a total budget of 27.8 billion baht through joint ventures.
An inspection of 22 steel bars used in the building’s construction found 2 sizes that did not meet standards. Both sizes came from a company that the Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI) had ordered to close in December 2024 due to the sale of substandard steel.
This is just one example of the irregularities hidden beneath the rubble after the incident, which the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has now accepted as a special case.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand (ACT) has learned lessons from this incident and urged the Thai bureaucracy to overhaul its procurement system, allowing more private sector participation, giving the government the opportunity to choose quality contractors, disclosing information transparently at every stage, implementing integrity pacts seriously, and finally, using technology for monitoring and inspection, such as AI or GPS systems, to eliminate collusion in bidding processes that plague various projects in Thailand.
Regarding compensation, the government has already provided assistance to the families of 40 deceased individuals, totaling 38 million baht. Employees who died due to work-related accidents will receive compensation at a rate of 70 percent of their wages, up to a maximum of 14,000 baht per month, payable to eligible dependents for a period of 10 years, along with funeral expenses of 50,000 baht and old-age pension from the Social Security Fund. -819(TNA)
