The Thai government is cracking down after two tragedies in two days linked to the same company

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced that the government would terminate Italian-Thai's contracts in the two projects in question, initiate legal proceedings against the company and place it on a blacklist.

"This has happened three or four times now. The government does not want to work with these kinds of companies," he stated ahead of the general elections on February 8.

The government has demanded explanations after the deadly collapse of two cranes on Wednesday and Thursday at construction sites linked to this company, one of the largest construction companies in the kingdom.

The spectacular collapse of a first crane on Wednesday morning onto a passenger train in the northeast of the country left 32 dead and dozens injured.

Grieving relatives were silently gathering at the dusty site in the rising sun when a similar accident occurred on Thursday more than 200 kilometers away, in the suburbs of Bangkok.

Another crane collapsed at a highway construction site, killing two people, according to local police.

These two tragedies within 24 hours have a common denominator: the Thai company Italian-Thai Development, Thai Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn confirmed to a local media outlet.

"We will have to establish the facts, whether it was an accident or something else," he said.

Italian-Thai has been involved in several fatal accidents in recent years.

She was charged in August, along with her manager, in a case related to the collapse of a building under construction in Bangkok during an earthquake. Approximately 90 people died, mostly construction workers.

The company announced Wednesday, following the train tragedy, that it would compensate the families of the victims and cover the medical expenses of the injured.

She made the same commitment the following day and promised to "review and strengthen (her) security measures".

"Almost died"

At the site of the second accident on Thursday in the suburbs of Bangkok, Booncherd La-orium, a motorcycle taxi driver, said he had "goosebumps".

"I still hadn't recovered from yesterday's (Wednesday's) accident, and this morning I learned that another one happened right next to my home," the 69-year-old man told AFP. "It's the same company again, Italian-Thai..."

Surachai Wongho, a 61-year-old retiree who travels this road every day, shares the same weariness: "It's always the same thing in Thailand. It's time the government did something."

Footage from a vehicle-mounted camera shows the moment the enormous crane collapsed, tearing through the elevated concrete roadway in a cloud of dust.

"I almost died," one person on board gasped. "It's okay now, it's not falling anymore. It's just another crane collapse," replied a second.

The highway under construction is intended to ease traffic congestion on the Rama II road, which connects Bangkok to the south of the country. However, the major construction project is plagued by delays and fatal accidents.

The collapse of a concrete beam, designed to support the future motorway bridge, had already killed at least six people last March near the capital, and three workers died in November 2024 after a crane collapsed.

The one that caused the train derailment on Wednesday in northeastern Thailand was being used on the construction site of a future high-speed rail line.

A colossal project supported by China as part of its "Belt and Road Initiative," aimed at increasing its trade and influence in Southeast Asia.