BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Thailand's Supreme Court on Thursday increased an architect's 20-year prison sentence to life behind bars for designing a hotel that collapsed seven years ago, killing 137 people.
The collapse of the Royal Plaza Hotel in Nakhon Ratchasima, some 130 miles northeast of Bangkok, on Aug. 13, 1993, was the most deadly building disaster in the country's history.
Four stories, a massage parlor, discotheque and restaurants were added on to what was once a modest three-story hotel. The additions, lacking sufficient support, were determined to be the cause of the collapse.
Bampen Phanrat-issara, the architect who oversaw the hotel's expansion, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for negligence in 1997. On appeal, the sentence was increased Thursday to life imprisonment by the high court.
The convictions of 14 other people sentenced for negligence in the collapse — including the hotel's managing director and government officials — were overturned in Dec. 1998. The high court sustained their acquittals on Thursday.
The collapse highlighted Thailand's serious problems with faulty construction and workplace safety. Thailand has many laws governing construction and building safety, but inspections are rare and rules frequently disregarded.