Work on new northern train tunnel halted after accident kills 2

PUBLISHED : 21 Jun 2026 at 10:39

The State Railway of Thailand has ordered a temporary halt to construction of a new tunnel on the northern line pending an investigation into a scaffolding collapse that killed two workers.

The SRT said in a Facebook statement on Sunday work on Doi Luang Tunnel had been halted for two days so the contractor and railway authorities could find out why the scaffolding fell down and killed two workers on Saturday and injured two others.

The contractor was also ordered to improve worker safety, it said.

They dead and injured workers were installing waterproofing inside the tunnel in Doi Luang district of Chiang Rai province.

The victims were identified only as Apidet, 24, from Kanchanaburi; and Thu, 29, from Myanmar. The two injured were being treated at Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital in Muang district.

The railway agency did not name the company responsible for the construction.

The CKST-DC 3 consortium comprising Ch Karnchang Plc, Sino-Thai Engineering & Construction Plc (Stecon) and Chiang Mai Construction Co won the bidding for the section  between Chiang Rai and Chiang Khong in Chiang Khong district, including Doi Luang tunnel, according to the Stecon website.

Doi Luang tunnel is 3.4 kilometres long. It was carved out through the mountain, but the tracks have not yet been laid.

The new tracks are off the main northern line at Den Chai station in Denchai district in Phrae, part of the SRT's new Den Chai–Chiang Rai–Chiang Khong double-track line, to promote trade and transport with northern Laos and China.

Last year, three workers were killed when a train tunnel under construction on a high-speed line collapsed in Pak Chong district in Nakhon Ratchasima.