FACTBOX: Major construction-linked accidents in Thailand

Crane collapse onto a moving train in northeastern Thailand kills dozens, part of a troubling pattern of deadly construction accidents nationwide.

Reuters

14 January 2026 at 13:44:55

FACTBOX: Major construction-linked accidents in Thailand

Workers set up to lift the wreckage at the site where a train was derailed when a construction crane collapsed and fell onto its carriages, causing several casualties, in Sikhio district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, January 14, 2026.

Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters

Dozens of people were killed on Wednesday after a crane collapsed onto a moving train in northeastern Thailand, in the latest in a series of construction accidents in recent years.

Here are some other fatal incidents involving construction in Thailand:

March 28, 2025 - A partially built 30-storey tower in the capital Bangkok collapsed during a 7.7 magnitude quake that struck central Myanmar, killing at least 89 people.

The construction was being carried out by a joint venture including Italian Thai Development PCL ITD.BK, a major construction company which was also involved in building the rail link in Wednesday's crane accident.

The president of ITD was charged in August along with 21 other suspects for breaching construction regulations and causing death through negligence. The case is still pending and he denied the charges when arrested.

March 15, 2025 - At least five people were killed and 27 injured after an under-construction bridge on the Rama III–Dao Khanong Expressway Project collapsed in Bangkok. The highway project also involved ITD in a joint venture.

Authorities launched an investigation and the contractors promised compensation to the victims. The incident prompted the national government to roll out a "contractor report card" system in August, to boost oversight of companies working on public infrastructure projects.

August 24, 2024 - Three workers, two Chinese nationals and one from Myanmar, were killed when a tunnel collapsed in Nakhon Ratchasima province in northeastern Thailand that is part of the same railway project where Wednesday's incident took place. The collapse occurred during heavy rain in the region.

November 29, 2024 - Four Myanmar and two Thai workers were killed in Samut Sakhon province, south of the capital Bangkok, in an accident at a construction site of an elevated motorway. Six people were also injured in the incident when a concrete segment and crane collapsed during construction of the highway.

March 29, 2024 - Seven people were killed and several injured, including one who lost a limb, after a crane collapsed at a construction site of a Chinese-run steel factory in Rayong province in eastern Thailand.

-Panu Wongcha-um and Devjyot Ghoshal/Reuters