Concrete and corruption

Why do Thai citizens look to concrete to reveal political scandal? What do their readings of corruption in overbuilt, failed and obdurate structures tell us about the relationship between politics and construction in Thailand? How do these readings help us better understand the political power of this material and its enactments? In this paper, I trace the relationship between concrete and claims of corruption through three different projects—a recently proposed bike path along the Chao Phraya River, Suvarnabhumi International Airport and the failed Hopewell Rail project. I argue that the materiality of concrete is itself fundamental to these claims of corruption as it helps materialise the social relationships that produce projects rendering them visible and open to public critique. When a project has too much concrete, fails or remains in place long after it has become obsolete, the material allows urbanites to discuss the powerful relationship between capital, political power and the building. Cracking concrete thus reveals both situated political failures and deep structures of political inequality simultaneously.