Italian-Thai Growth, certainly one of Thailand’s largest development conglomerates, is within the highlight after successive deadly incidents on its constructing websites.
On Jan. 14, a crane collapsed onto a passenger prepare within the nation’s northeast, killing at the least 32 individuals. Simply in the future later, one other crane fell on a freeway venture in Samut Sakhon province, main to 2 deaths. Italian-Thai Growth helmed each tasks, and so forth Jan. 16, Thailand’s Transport Ministry ordered a 15-day development halt on greater than ten tasks overseen by the corporate, citing a “hazard to the general public.”
Italian-Thai Growth launched a press release to Thailand’s inventory alternate on Jan. 15, noting that it had began the method of assessing injury and can take duty by offering compensation. Fortune has reached out to Italian-Thai Growth for additional remark.
The development firm can be linked to the collapse of a partially-constructed skyscraper in Bangkok final March, following a devastating earthquake in close by Myanmar. The catastrophe killed virtually 100 individuals.
Following the skyscraper incident, Premchai Karnasuta, the CEO of Italian-Thai Growth, was indicted alongside 22 others, on fees together with doc forgery {and professional} negligence inflicting loss of life. (Executives from China Railway No. 10, a Chinese language state-owned development agency that partnered with Italian-Thai Growth, have been additionally charged.)
Italian-Thai Growth, with $2 billion in 2024 income, ranks No. 174 on Fortune’s Southeast Asia 500 checklist, which measures the area’s largest companies by income.
Thai businessman Uthai Vongnai and Italian engineer Giovanni Tani based Italian-Thai Growth in 1958, after the 2 labored collectively salvaging 5 ships that sank within the Chao Phraya River. The agency expanded to sectors like actual property, manufacturing and mining, and has had a hand in constructing a few of Thailand’s largest public infrastructure tasks, like Bangkok’s subway system.
Nonetheless, the agency has had a rocky few years. They misplaced a complete of 6 billion Thai baht ($192 million) between 2020 and 2022, in line with the Bangkok Put up, partially after its work in Myanmar was stalled after a 2021 coup and imposition of army rule.
Karnasuta, Italian-Thai Growth’s CEO, was additionally jailed for unlawful poaching in 2021, after he was caught with looking gear and animal carcasses in certainly one of Thailand’s wildlife sanctuaries. He was launched on parole in 2023.
Italian-Thai Growth has been compelled to slash prices and dump a number of abroad models. The agency’s market worth plunged from a peak of 12 billion baht ($384 million) in 2021 to simply 1 billion baht ($32 million) in 2026.
