Sounds like some really shady business dealings were going down ...

AoT to nullify contract for airport hotel

Contractor was not qualified to win it

The management contract for the airport hotel at Suvarnabhumi will be cancelled because the contractor was unqualified to win it in the first place, an informed source said. The board of the Suvarnabhumi airport hotel, headed by Airports of Thailand chairman Saprang Kalayanamitr, decided yesterday to void the contract of Universal Hospitality Joint Venture, which runs the Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport hotel. Eight companies registered interest in bidding for the contract _ Intercontinental Hotel Group Asia Pacific, Marriott Hotel Group, Central Plaza Hotel, Dusit Hotels and Resorts, AAPC (Thailand), Amari Hotels and Resorts, Sheraton Overseas Management, and the Carlson Group. Five submitted bids. Universal Hospitality Joint Venture was not among them. The authorities have yet to find out how Universal Hospitality eventually obtained the airport hotel management contract. The bidding terms also required contenders to be a single company with a minimum registered capital of 100 million baht. Universal Hospitality, on the other hand, consists of D.K. Lam Properties, founded in 2002 and thus was not qualified for the contract because the bidding terms required the contender to have been registered for at least 10 years and Kong Thana Company, set up 14 years ago, but has registered capital of only five of the required hundred million baht. In their registration documents, neither company expressed any intention of managing hotels.

Murky details continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/17May2007_news14.php

*Edit* : Title should read:

Airport Hotel Contract Cancelled, Suspicious shenanigans as contractor was not qualified to win it

Is it possible, I wonder, whether anybody will ever find any contract appertaining to any aspect of the new airport that does not reek of corruption?

But this one, on the face of it, not so much takes the biscuit but makes off with the entire bakery.

5-Star corruption

5-Star corruption

like it .1 star workmanship

Is it possible, I wonder, whether anybody will ever find any contract appertaining to any aspect of the new airport that does not reek of corruption?

But this one, on the face of it, not so much takes the biscuit but makes off with the entire bakery.

All these "graft" issues coming to light must raise the question as to the stupidity of those signing off on these contracts. Such a high profile project would obviously have light shone on it and surely these people cannot have thought that thier actions would go unnoticed.

Indeed, the brazen manner in which the Thaksin administration signed off on all these corruption-laden contracts is difficult to fathom. They truly thought that they were above the laws of scrutiny and being in absolute control at the time, they likely thought they never would be looked at closely.

Indeed, the brazen manner in which the Thaksin administration signed off on all these corruption-laden contracts is difficult to fathom. They truly thought that they were above the laws of scrutiny and being in absolute control at the time, they likely thought they never would be looked at closely.

And the AOT is now free of corruption?

My 2 cents say that they want their hands greased as much as anyone else in a power position in Thailand.

Case in point : AOT limousine service.

cheers

onzestan

Indeed, the brazen manner in which the Thaksin administration signed off on all these corruption-laden contracts is difficult to fathom. They truly thought that they were above the laws of scrutiny and being in absolute control at the time, they likely thought they never would be looked at closely.

And the AOT is now free of corruption?

My 2 cents say that they want their hands greased as much as anyone else in a power position in Thailand.

Case in point : AOT limousine service.

cheers

onzestan

More than likely it's not corrupt-free now... but the REALLY BIG bucks or baht were done on start-up costs and not operating expenses.

The REALLY BIG money has already been spent on the BILLIONS and BILLIONS involved with the 6 years of Thaksin-corrupted construction to the opening.

More than likely it's not corrupt-free now... but the REALLY BIG bucks or baht were done on start-up costs and not operating expenses.

The REALLY BIG money has already been spent on the BILLIONS and BILLIONS involved with the 6 years of Thaksin-corrupted construction to the opening.

Hi John,

I agree, but that's behind us now and has been discussed a billion times. We should concentrate on what is happening now, and might happen in the future.

Maybe someone would take note, but as long as we keep repeating the same things over and over again nobody is going to listen because nothing can be done about it, it's in the past.

cheers

onzestan

More than likely it's not corrupt-free now... but the REALLY BIG bucks or baht were done on start-up costs and not operating expenses.

The REALLY BIG money has already been spent on the BILLIONS and BILLIONS involved with the 6 years of Thaksin-corrupted construction to the opening.

Hi John,

I agree, but that's behind us now and has been discussed a billion times. We should concentrate on what is happening now, and might happen in the future.

Maybe someone would take note, but as long as we keep repeating the same things over and over again nobody is going to listen because nothing can be done about it, it's in the past.

cheers

onzestan

The various Thaksin-related airport scandals are still being investigated/prosecuted as we speak. Once they have all been resolved... then yes, they can certainly look at the smaller acorns that are being squirreled away now.