ITD boss Premchai and 14 others held on remand without bail

Italian-Thai Development Company’s (ITD) president Premchai Karnasuta and 14 other directors and engineers of construction firms involved in the design, construction and supervision of the building of the collapsed State Audit Office were sent to Bangkok Remand Prison for 12 days yesterday, after the Criminal Court rejected their bail applications.

Altogether, 17 directors and engineers, including Premchai and a director of China Railway No 10 (Thailand), a major partner in the joint venture constructing of the SAO building, which collapsed on March 28th following the devastating earthquake in Myanmar, have been charged.

The companies involved in the project include ITD, China Railway No 10, Forum Architect, Meinhardt (Thailand) Company, KP Consultants and Management and V and Sahai Consultants.

All have been charged with negligence in their performance of their duties in the design, construction and supervision of the construction, which was allegedly not conducted according to regulations and was not up to the required standards.

89 people are confirmed to have died in the collapse, nine were injured and 11 are still unaccounted for.