The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) under the direct supervision of Minister of Justice Tawee Sodsong, has conducted an in-depth forensic investigation at the collapse site of the newly constructed National Audit Office, focusing on abnormal clauses in four related contracts.
The two construction giants involved have been listed as suspects in a bid-rigging scheme, and the DSI is collaborating with the National Anti-Corruption Commission to conduct a thorough examination of the flow of funds, while also requesting the Ministry of Commerce to urgently investigate the authenticity of corporate qualifications.
At the command center on site, Tawee, along with the DSI Director, Police Lieutenant Colonel Yutthana Predan, and the forensic team, held an emergency tactical meeting, demanding the closure of the key evidence chain on an "hourly basis". The investigation team has initially found evidence of systemic regulatory failure in the collapsed project: from tampering with structural design parameters to falsifying construction supervision records, a chain of failures directly pointing to a network of interest delivery.
The key figure in the case—Chief Project Engineer Songkia Chu Sengsu—has been exposed for allegedly forging multiple acceptance signatures, and his handwriting analysis has entered an expedited process in the Ministry of Justice's laboratory. DSI has upgraded the case to a "special supervision case", and if judicial authentication confirms document forgery, it will directly trigger Article 12 of the "Special Anti-Corruption Law", pursuing criminal responsibility for endangering public safety.
Tawee emphasized in a news briefing: "This is not just a single engineering accident, but the tip of the iceberg of systemic corruption." DSI has also frozen the files of 12 other government tender projects involving the two construction companies, focusing on whether there is a "bid-rigging consortium" pattern. The National Anti-Corruption Commission specifically pointed out that if public officials are found to be involved in profit-sharing, a "lifetime accountability mechanism" will be initiated.
In the collapsed ruins, the investigation team used three-dimensional laser scanning technology to reconstruct the architectural framework, comparing it with the original design blueprints and finding several unauthorized modifications to load-bearing structures. The forensic team is currently testing the additives in the concrete samples, suspecting "strength fraud". The Ministry of Commerce has urgently retrieved the tax data of the involved companies for the past five years, tracking the trajectory of abnormal fund flows.
With the formal charges of manslaughter being brought forward, the police have imposed travel restrictions on six project officials. DSI stated that if the cross-verification of the four core contracts is completed within this week, a decision on whether to apply for an arrest warrant will be made within 48 hours. Minister of Justice Tawee specially warned: "Any attempt to destroy evidence will be treated as an aggravating circumstance."
The swift handling of this case is seen as a key battle for the Thai government to reshape the public credibility of engineering supervision. A spokesperson from the Prime Minister's Office stated that the investigation results will directly drive the revision of the "Building Safety Law", mandating the implementation of a "dual supervision system" and a "lifetime quality traceability code", cutting off the chain of corruption benefits from the institutional level.
