Thailand’s ฿23 billion parliament faces major issues with water leaks, a collapsed ceiling, damaged documents, and a broken escalator. Officials and MPs express frustration as flooding from toilets and leaks continues to cause extensive damage throughout the complex.
Last week, officials at Thailand’s parliament called in a former Bangkok MP to witness ongoing problems that staff and engineers at the building are dealing with. The former MP, Mr. Wilad Chanpitak, was told of ongoing issues with toilet water flooding part of the building. In addition, a ceiling collapsed in a banqueting area at the end of September, while important documents were being destroyed by the overflow. Furthermore, an escalator has been flooded so often that it has now been deemed irreparable. Hours later, on the fourth floor of the parliamentary complex, former Deputy Prime Minister and Pheu Thai Party MP Chaturon Chaisaeng was found assisting staff to deal with water leaks, which have rotted sofas and seating areas. The MP said ta couch was already rotten from the water damage.
Thailand’s parliament complex has been plagued by flooding and other issues since it was put into use in 2019. Certainly, this week the situation has been difficult to ignore, with two political figures coming forward to expose persistent problems.
The Sappaya-Sapasathan is the third home for Thailand’s parliament after it moved initially from a small but well loved complex near the Dusit Palace. This property was returned to the Crown Property Bureau in 2018, and afterwards, parliament met for a time at an auditorium owned by the telecom company TOT.
Parliament moved to a new complex in 2019 but construction delays and rising costs plagued the process
After that, in August 2019, it moved into the present complex. The mammoth development was built by Sino-Thai Engineering. A 2023 contract was awarded with a budget of ฿12.4 billion. However, this project took far longer than anticipated, with it only being officially signed off by the contractor in July 2024. The final cost was ฿23 billion.
Nonetheless, it must be said that the complex is truly a gigantic undertaking. Indeed, it is the largest parliamentary complex in the world. It sits on a 123-rai site of land on the Chao Phraya River in the Dusit district of the city. The massive complex has over 434,000 square metres of accommodation.
Fraudster exposed publicly in Thailand’s parliament hunted down by an elite Bangkok police squad
Crisis averted in parliament as MPs coup plot against the Prime Minister melts in goodwill at crucial meeting
Certainly, when the parliament moved to its new home in 2019, the building was only partially complete. Over the intervening years, there have been ongoing problems with flooding on various floors. Some of these incidents have been severe, necessitating the removal of furniture and equipment.
Parliament officials voice frustration over ongoing toilet overflow and flooding issues across floors
Notably, most of the problems involve flooding from water overflows, including toilet areas. However, this week, officials and workers within the parliamentary building have begun to express their frustration and dissatisfaction with the ongoing situation.
At the same time, MPs and former representatives have begun to call in the media to expose the defects. One former Democrat Party MP on Thursday said he plans to make a complaint to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) over ongoing problems and a delay in responding to them.
Later, on Thursday evening, Mr. Chaturon Chaisaeng, a former Deputy Prime Minister under Thaksin Shinawatra and a minister in the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, complained about leaking water on the fourth floor of the building.
Certainly, he expressed his displeasure.
“I’ve only been here a few days, and the sofa is already rotten. It must have happened many times already,” he said. Afterwards, he tried to assist parliamentary personnel in discovering where the leak was originating from.
Leaking ceilings and other incidents persist despite the building being officially handed over in July 2024
While these incidents have been a regular occurrence, it was thought that with the building signed over by the contractor in July 2024, the project was complete.
Earlier on Thursday, before the incident with Mr. Chaturon, a former Democrat MP for Bangkok, Mr. Wilad Chanpitak, attended the parliamentary complex. He had been asked to come by a parliamentary officer.
At length, he briefed reporters after 2 p.m. on what he had discovered. In short, the ceiling of the banquet room in the B2 area of the complex had collapsed. Indeed, this occurred just after a retirement party for parliamentary officials was held at the end of September.
Before that, it was understood that all construction work on the building had ceased on September 4, 2024. Indeed, the works were signed for on July 4, 2024.
Afterwards, the ceiling fell in. According to the parliamentary officer, there is an agreement that such incidents must be rectified by the contractor within 15 days. However, he claims that certain matters have not been remedied, going back three months after they have arisen.
Ongoing flooding and leaks raise concerns as documents and an escalator suffer water damage in huge complex
Mr. Wilad explained to reporters that staff in the parliament building are particularly perplexed by ongoing incidents of water flooding from the water system. Again, this is in the B2 section. They claim toilet water has persistently been flooding floors.
In addition, this water has seeped into an escalator as well as important documents. Furthermore, the parliament staff was forced to deploy a woman to use cloth to wipe away water that appeared from gaps in tiles and on pillars for extended periods.
The Democrat MP said the officials within the parliament building are reluctant to complain. However, the ongoing problems are a source of frustration to the extent that some of the engineers have voiced their concerns.
For example, Mr. Wilad was informed that the escalator, which has been persistently flooded with toilet water, can no longer be repaired. In turn, the parliamentary authority will be forced to replace it.
Furthermore, one of the officials has reported water damage to a large quantity of documents. At this time, he does not know who is responsible for the documents. However, they appear to be important.
Mr. Wilad says he is not sure what is causing these issues, so he plans to collect evidence carefully and make a submission to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
Join the Thai News forum, follow Thai Examiner on Facebook here
Receive all our stories as they come out on Telegram here
Follow Thai Examiner here
Further reading:
Tensions within government as COVID-19 crisis grows darker with public confidence in free fall
Economic fears rising as Thailand faces a bigger crisis than 1997 with rising job losses and debt
Thamanat’s new job is to make Palang Pracharat the kingdom’s largest voting bloc in parliament
Only 1.8% of the people in one poll this week said that they had any confidence in the government
Colourful Bangkok former sex industry tycoon Chuwit told to quit sniping by an aide to the PM
PM Prayut hands power back to the CCSA to find 100 million vaccine doses to defeat Covid-19
Thailand scrambles to procure more vaccines as infections and deaths from Covid-19 jump sharply
Bangkok MP will call to account cabinet ministers who he claims were at a Thong Lor nightlife spot
PM left master of the field as constitutional reform moves stall with street protests quieted
Future Forward Party dissolved – leadership banned from politics by Constitutional Court order
