The Board of Investment has temporarily withdrawn incentives for a Chinese steelmaker that supplied products for the construction of the collapsed State Audit Office building in Bangkok.
The decision to immediately revoke the investment privileges for Xin Ke Yuan Steel Co until further notice was made at board meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Pichai Chunhavajira on Friday.
The decision is not retroactive and came after Industry Minister Akanat Promphan signed an order to lift the incentives for the Chinese firm.
The BoI indicated it could permanently end all benefits for the firm if the Industry Ministry revoked its factory licence. The company received BoI approval for incentives offered to industrial investors in 2013.
Xin Ke Yuan Steel manufactures billets and other steel products at a factory in Rayong. The company supplied steel bars and other products to the contractors in charge of building the 30-storey state skyscraper that was brought to the ground during an earthquake on March 28.
Numerous investigations are under way into the cause of the collapse, with much of the suspicion falling on substandard steel products.
The collapse claimed 27 lives with nine people injured and 67 still missing. There were 103 workers and other people inside the building before it was turned into a pile of rubble when Bangkok was jolted by the quake near Mandalay in central Myanmar.
