Engineering disasters: A sinkhole swallows a pickup truck a day after a crane kills two, just a day after a rail inferno claimed 32 lives. 144 dead on just one motorway project since 2018, 1,400 hurt. Quake building collapse and ban on top contractor Italian-Thai deepen fears over Thailand’s safety, investment and global tourist destination.
A Toyota pickup on Saturday morning was rescued by Highway Police on the notorious Rama II motorway project in Samut Sakhon. On Thursday, the same project claimed two more lives when a crane collapsed, injuring five. The toll since 2018 now stands at 144 dead and over 1,400 injured. Just 24 hours earlier, 32 people died when a crane crushed carriages on the Thailand–China high-speed rail line. These disasters follow the 2025 skyscraper collapse after an earthquake and a massive Bangkok sinkhole. The failures deepen doubts about Thailand’s reliability and safety abroad. The country faces another blow to its battered image.
It was 6:30 am in Samut Sakhon. A Toyota pickup drove toward Bangkok on the new Rama 2 motorway. The sky was pale and the traffic was thin. Suddenly, the asphalt opened beneath the front wheels. The vehicle dropped into a fresh sinkhole. Dust and water sprayed across the lane. The driver climbed out, shaken but unharmed. Later, Highway Police helped lift the pickup from the crater.
However, the small drama pointed to a wider chain of failures. Officials traced the collapse to water-main works nearby.
A municipal pipe one meter wide had burst under the road. Contractors had restored the surface only months earlier. The repair did not hold against the pressure. As a result, the base washed away and the lane sank.
Sinkhole on Rama 2 exposes burst municipal pipe while crews close lanes and manage traffic risks
The hole appeared at kilometre 29+350 on the inbound parallel road. One private vehicle was damaged in the incident. Meanwhile, there were no reports of injuries or deaths. The Department of Highways closed the stretch for safety. Drivers were told to detour at kilometre 29+600. Crews from Samut Sakhon Municipality arrived with pumps and barriers.
At the same time, the sinkhole followed a far deadlier event on the corridor. On Thursday morning, an overhead crane collapsed onto Rama 2 Road. Two people were killed beneath falling steel. Five others were pulled out with injuries. The crane served the elevated expressway under construction above the highway.
The failure struck shortly after 9 am. It occurred between kilometre markers 28 and 30 near the Tha Chin bridge. FM91 Trafficpro carried the first alert to motorists. Pol Lt Pirote Pinthip confirmed the casualties an hour later. Consequently, police sealed both directions of the road. Long queues formed from Samut Sakhon toward Bangkok.
Rama 2 Road is the main artery to the south. The route carries buses, trucks and tourist traffic each day. Yet it has become notorious for construction accidents. Work on the expressway began in 2018. Since then, the project has recorded 144 deaths. Thursday added two more to the toll. Furthermore, there have been over 1,400 significant injuries.
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Moreover, the crane collapse came only a day after a national disaster. On Wednesday, another crane fell onto a moving train in Nakhon Ratchasima. Thirty-two passengers died in the wreck. Sixty-four were injured in carriages crushed by steel. Investigators said the operation violated project regulations.
Most victims were trapped inside sealed air-conditioned cars. The impact sparked a fast-moving fire. Doors jammed and smoke filled the compartments. Therefore, many could not escape before the blaze spread. Search teams ended operations on Thursday evening. Officials believed 171 people had been on the train.
The rail line is the first phase of the China–Thailand high-speed project. The scheme is valued at ฿179 billion. Italian-Thai Development leads the Thai side of construction. China Railway Group manages design and supervision. The fallen machine was a launching gantry crane for elevated spans.
Additionally, police are collecting evidence from the site. Officers have interviewed operators and supervisors. No charges have been filed at this stage. Carriages were removed one by one under floodlights. Families waited outside the cordon for news.
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Italian-Thai Development has shaped Thai infrastructure since 1958. The company built ports, highways and power plants nationwide. However, in recent decades, it has partnered closely with Chinese state firms. Subsidiaries of China Railway Group became major collaborators. The Thai firm trades on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Yet the company already faced heavy scrutiny before this week. On March 28, 2025, an earthquake struck Myanmar and Thailand. The State Audit Building, under construction in Bangkok, collapsed. About 100 people died in the worst quake damage inside Thailand ever seen.
Subsequently, prosecutors indicted 23 individuals and companies. Premchai Karnasuta, the Italian-Thai president, was denied bail in May 2025. He was sent to prison awaiting trial. Charges included professional negligence and document forgery. The case shook confidence across the sector.
In response to this week’s latest incident, authorities suspended all projects linked to the firm. Public concern has previously focused on Chinese materials and subcontractors. Questions have also targeted supervision methods on mega projects. Nevertheless, problems have not been limited to one contractor.
Train crash inquiry links Italian-Thai and Chinese designers to Belt and Road line after tunnel deaths
In September 2025, another giant sinkhole opened on Samsen Road in Bangkok. The collapse was tied to a new Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) subway line. The contractor was the family company of current premier Anutin Charnvirakul. Consequently, several weakened buildings were demolished nearby.
A newly renovated police station was among the structures pulled down. Notably, the subsidence appeared weeks after Anutin was elected to office. It emerged on the very day his cabinet was sworn in. Images of cracked streets were broadcast worldwide.
This week, the sequence of disasters revived those images. The rail inferno came first on Wednesday. The Rama 2 crane collapsed on Thursday. The Samut Sakhon sinkhole opened at dawn on Saturday. Together, the events framed a grim forty-eight hours.
Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn spoke on Channel 7 television. He confirmed two deaths at the highway site. Rescue worker Suchart Tongteng described unstable conditions. Dangling plates threatened a second collapse. Therefore, teams waited outside the danger zone.
Rama 2 businesses report losses as engineers probe hidden voids under asphalt and pipe rupture
At the train crash site, investigators studied the twisted gantry crane. Provincial police chief Narongsak Promta led interviews with witnesses. The State Railway coordinated the removal of the wreckage. Meanwhile, the acting railway governor named Italian-Thai as the contractor.
A Chinese company handled the design and supervision of the rail works. Italian-Thai posted condolences on its website. The firm promised compensation to the families of the dead. It also pledged to cover hospital expenses for the injured.
In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry reacted to the tragedy. Spokesperson Mao Ning expressed sympathy for the victims. The line forms part of the Belt and Road network. The project aims to link China with Southeast Asia by rail.
The memory of an earlier tunnel collapse still hangs over the scheme. In August 2024, three workers died in Nakhon Ratchasima. Since then, critics say safety lessons were ignored. Local residents complain of constant disruption from the works.
Investigators review crane logs as families mourn and five workers are treated as pipe fix planned
Shop owners along the Rama 2 project blame falling trade on lane closures. Bus operators report daily delays into Bangkok. Freight companies warn of rising delivery costs. As a result, the economic impact spreads beyond the crash sites.
Engineers from the Department of Highways drilled test cores around the sinkhole on Saturday morning. They searched for hidden voids beneath the asphalt. Municipal crews shut valves to isolate the burst pipe. Pumps worked through the humid afternoon.
The pickup driver told officers the road failed without warning. The front axle dropped and the airbags fired. He escaped through the window as the water rose. Later, tow trucks hauled the vehicle to a nearby yard.
Television crews filmed muddy water swirling below the surface. Chunks of concrete lay scattered at the edge. Traffic cones marked a wide perimeter for safety. Meanwhile, officers waved vehicles past the bottleneck.
Thailand image battered as a week of rail and highway failures dents confidence abroad
Experts note that aging utilities run under many Bangkok roads. Leaks can erode foundations over long periods. Heavy construction above adds further stress to the ground. Therefore, similar failures remain possible elsewhere.
Even so, officials avoided wider speculation. They focused on immediate repairs to reopen the lane. The municipality pledged to replace the damaged pipe section. Asphalt resurfacing was scheduled within days.
The crane collapse inquiry advanced more slowly. Inspectors checked maintenance logs and load charts. They reviewed the licences of the machine operators. Witnesses reported a loud crack before the steel fell.
Families of the two dead gathered at the hospital morgue. Five injured workers remained under observation. Doctors listed fractures, burns and head trauma. None were described as critical by Friday night.
Public anger surged on social media platforms. Many questioned the oversight of state mega projects. Others demanded independent audits of foreign partnerships. However, the government urged patience until the investigations are finished.
Tourism operators followed the coverage with concern. Last year, foreign arrivals dropped 7.23 percent from 2024. Hoteliers fear the images will deter new bookings. Likewise, investors watched for policy reactions.
Analysts warned that repeated accidents could chill foreign direct investment. Thailand competes with regional neighbors for new factories. Confidence, they say, can turn quickly.
By Friday evening, the Rama 2 crater was partly filled with gravel. Steel plates covered the surface for temporary passage. Traffic moved again on narrowed lanes. Yet, the sense of unease remained among commuters.
The timeline now stands stark. Wednesday delivered a train disaster with 32 dead. Thursday brought a crane collapse with two more deaths. Saturday opened with a road swallowed by water.
Authorities insist each case has separate technical causes. However, critics see a pattern across major projects. Investigations will continue through the coming months.
Thailand image shaken as week of rail and highway failures dents confidence amid investment fears
For now, drivers still pass beneath unfinished flyovers. Trains continue along the new corridor toward the northeast. Residents of Samut Sakhon cross freshly patched asphalt each day.
The pickup pulled from the sinkhole sits dented in a yard. The scar on the motorway is visible from a distance. Finally, it stands as the latest warning on Thailand’s busiest highway.
Just weeks into 2026, the country faces hard questions. The answers will shape projects worth hundreds of billions of baht. Last year, the Pheu Thai-led government also promised action to tighten up safety on engineering projects. However, nothing appears to have changed. The fear is that endemic corruption and a propensity to take shortcuts are overriding features of the country’s infrastructural projects.
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The Samsen Road sinkhole, this week’s deadly train crash and last year’s collapse of a building under construction on March 28th, 2025, during an earthquake have all been beamed around the world.
Just over two weeks into 2026, and already the news for Thailand is again not good. Questions are being raised about industrial development within the kingdom and capability.
Moreover, and significantly, this sort of news damages the kingdom’s ability to attract inward foreign direct investment. Indeed, combined with the country’s political instability, links with corruption and scammers and an array of economic ailments, the image of Thailand abroad is one of decline and indeed failure.
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Further reading:
Italian Thai boss and 16 others arrested on Thursday charged with Auditor General building deaths
Arrested man linked with Chatuchak building collapse now tells police he is a Chinese state employee
Prime Minister orders arrests over the Chatuchak Auditor General building disaster within seven days
Chinese steel firm linked to Chatuchak disaster faces DSI probes. Minister cancels investment status
Storm clouds gathering over Chinese firm at the centre of the collapsed Chatuchak building disaster
US scan shows 50-60 human beings said to be in a hallway within the collapsed Chatuchak building
