Thailand Has 2nd Deadly Incident Involving a Crane in 2 Days

Source: New York Times

Thailand Has 2nd Deadly Incident Involving a Crane in 2 Days

The accident, which killed at least two people outside Bangkok, came a day after another crane fell on a train in the northeast, leaving at least 32 people dead.


The site where a construction crane collapsed onto a highway in Samut Sakhon Province, Thailand, on Thursday. Chanakarn Laosarakham/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By Sui-Lee Wee and Kittiphum Sringammuang
Reporting from Samut Sakhon Province, Thailand
Jan. 15, 2026
Updated 4:11 a.m. ET

A crane collapsed on an accident-prone expressway on the outskirts of Bangkok on Thursday, killing at least two people, the authorities said. It was the second fatal episode involving cranes in the country in as many days. ... The government was moving to halt all aboveground construction in the wake of the episodes, Thailand’s transport minister, Phipat Ratchakitprakarn, told reporters.

It was not immediately clear what caused the crane to collapse in Samut Sakhon Province, southwest of Bangkok, on Thursday. Crews are building an elevated section of the motorway, which is not yet open to traffic. ... Parts of the elevated structure caved in to the ground level after the crane fell. The collapse crushed two vehicles, a rescue worker said, and it was not immediately clear if there were any survivors.

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The contractor of the expressway, Italian-Thai Development, was also the firm in charge of a construction site where a crane fell on a moving passenger train on Wednesday, according to Mr. Phipat. At least 32 people died in that accident. ... The firm also faced scrutiny last year, when more than 90 people died after a building under construction collapsed in Bangkok after an earthquake. It was the only building that fell in Bangkok during the disaster. {snip} Italian-Thai Development did not answer phone calls to its office and disabled all comments on its Facebook page on Thursday.

Rama 2 Road — designed to be the main artery connecting Bangkok to Thailand’s southern provinces — is often referred to by Thais as the “Road of Never-Ending Construction.” It is notorious for its frequent and often fatal accidents. The authorities have recorded at least 140 deaths from over 2,200 construction-related accidents between 2018 and 2025, and more than 1,300 injuries in the same period, according to a tally of data provided by Thailand’s Department of Highways.

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Sui-Lee Wee is the Southeast Asia bureau chief for The Times, overseeing coverage of 11 countries in the region.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/sui-lee-wee

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/world/asia/thailand-crane-expressway-rama2.html