Unsafe sites, soft probes

Back-to-back fatal accidents in the past week have turned public construction sites — especially along Rama II Road — into danger zones.

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The repeated tragedies on Rama II and other public construction sites have reminded us that public safety standards, and the law enforcement meant to uphold them, are failing.

Despite poor safety records, contractors are allowed to continue work and even bid for future state projects as if nothing had happened.

The question is: What went wrong, and how do we fix it?

The answer lies in systemic change to the state's fact-finding process. So-called “fact-finding missions” have become performative and ceremonial exercises meant to cool public anger rather than uncover the truth.

Predictably, government ministries appoint fact-finding committees after accidents. Yet after one or two months, most investigations go nowhere, offering neither clear causes nor proportionate penalties.