Anutin orders SRT, Highways Dept to seek contract cancellation with ITD

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Tuesday reiterated his instruction for the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) and the Department of Highways to pursue the cancellation of contracts with Italian-Thai Development Plc (ITD), following two fatal incidents linked to the company’s construction sites last week.

Speaking after the weekly Cabinet meeting, Anutin said the two agencies should use administrative law to seek termination of the high-speed rail construction contract and the M82 elevated motorway contract, without being constrained by contractual conditions.

Administrative law over contract clauses

Anutin said the move should be pursued under administrative law because the ongoing works were deemed a threat to public safety and detrimental to the public interest.

He said he had also instructed the Department of Highways, the SRT and the Transport Ministry not to “listen to” conditions written into contracts if those conditions stood in the way of action to address a public danger.

Fire at Rama II site raises questions

Reporters questioned Anutin about a small fire reported on Tuesday at the site of last week’s crane collapse at the M82 motorway construction area over the Rama II Highway.

Anutin said he had yet to receive an official report on the fire, but dismissed suggestions it could have been set to destroy evidence, saying authorities had already photographed the site.

He added that the key evidence was the collapsed crane itself — a structural engineering failure — and said burning steel or the crane would serve no purpose. Documents, he said, mattered less than what had physically occurred at the site.

Two deadly incidents last week

Anutin’s renewed push followed two fatal incidents last week.

On January 14, steel beams used as the base of a launching gantry fell onto a passenger train as it passed, killing 30 people and injuring more than 60 others.

A day later, on January 15, a launching gantry at the M82 elevated motorway construction site over the Rama II Highway in Mueang district, Samut Sakhon, broke apart. The crane and a large prefabricated concrete wall section fell onto two vehicles, killing both drivers.

Confidence hit: investors, tourists and the public

Anutin said the repeated incidents had damaged confidence — not only among investors and tourists, but also among the public.

He cited worsening congestion on Phetkasem Road, saying some motorists were avoiding Rama II because they no longer felt safe travelling through the construction corridor.

He said the government had invested heavily in infrastructure and now needed to restore confidence, adding that the loss of trust stemmed from repeated construction mistakes.

‘Accidents can happen’ — but repeated failures cannot

Anutin said he had faced criticism when he previously noted that accidents could occur, but insisted decisive action was necessary after repeated incidents.

He rejected warnings about the state “paying stupid money” if contracts were cancelled, saying he did not understand the term and questioning whether the company would sue given the scale of the damage.

He said the crane collapse alone had killed more than 30 people, and argued that while a first incident might be understandable, four or five similar incidents were not.

Timeline and next steps

Asked whether a timeline should be set to conclude the matter before handing it over to the next government, Anutin said he had already carried out his duties and issued instructions. He said any officials who failed to follow government orders would have to take responsibility under regulations and the law.

Asked whether other projects should be suspended due to recurring incidents, he said the priority for now was to resolve “these two issues” first.