Steel firms are urging an Industry Ministry inquiry into induction steel furnaces over concerns about the quality of steel made using the new technology.
Songsak Piyawannarat, vice-president for marketing and sales at Tata Steel (Thailand), said his company had doubts about whether the output of induction furnace technology was suitable for the structural steel used in buildings.
An induction furnace is an electrically run machine used for melting various types of metals.
The low temperature of electric heating is a crucial point, as the material produced would have a shorter life than steel from a high-temperature smelting furnace.
"The structural steel must be extremely strong and resistant to rust because it has to handle the weight of the whole building," Mr Songsak said. "The low-quality structural steel that is widely used among construction companies has put many buildings at great risk."
He said the issue had been raised at the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) that the country should not allow the sale of products made from the technology.
"Do not mention about standardising it, as we cannot control the users who use it for the wrong purpose, it is better off not allowing these products to be used here," said the Tata executive.
The Industry Ministry is in the process of amending standards for steel products in order to cover a wider range of products.
"We'll submit our request through the FTI as a representative for us to talk to the ministry's officials," Mr Songsak said. "We need to show them we disagree with their idea to allow steel producers to use such technology here."
Weerasak Chaisupat, managing director of Steel Center Plc, expressed greater concern over the dumping of cheaper steel from China.
He said Thai steel users preferred to import low-priced Chinese steel, no matter how poor the quality, causing a glut of supply.
Prakit Sirivattanaket, an investment strategist at Asia Plus Securities, said first-half domestic steel consumption, which fell by 15% from a year earlier to 8.3 million tonnes, showed no sign of improvement.
The third quarter, meanwhile, is a low season for construction due to heavy rain.
Mr Prakit said hope remained that the domestic market would revive in the fourth quarter on seasonal factors and with investment in infrastructure projects by the new government.