BANGKOK: Thai authorities said they have arrested a Chinese executive at a company that was building a Bangkok skyscraper, which collapsed in a major earthquake, leaving dozens dead.
The 30-storey tower was reduced to an immense pile of rubble when a 7.7-magnitude quake struck neighbouring Myanmar last month, killing 47 people at the construction site and leaving another 47 missing.
Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong told a news conference on Saturday (Apr 20) 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 per cent shareholder in the firm, while the three Thai citizens have a 51 per cent 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 per cent of shares in a company.
