Projects put on hold, e-auctions get revamp

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has ordered all ministries to put on hold bids for any projects worth over one billion baht, pending amendments to e-auction regulations, to ensure transparency. Mr Thaksin said the new regulations were needed because many agencies wrongly thought that e-auctions were just bids on the internet and bidders had to place their bids simultaneously.

This went against the idea behind the government's e-auctions, where bidders were supposed to try to outbid their competitors during a given time-frame, with the one offering the lowest bid getting the contract, Mr Thaksin said.

In fact, the concept should have been called ''reverse e-auction'' since it was designed by the government to buy services or items from bidders, not to sell things to them, he said.

The new e-auction rules with clear details would come out next month to ensure that e-auctions for all state projects would be conducted in the same way as that of CAT Telecom Plc. The company had properly implemented the e-auction scheme in its CDMA mobile phone equipment procurement, which enabled it to acquire the equipment at a rate much lower than the median price, he said.

Ministries and departments which had already prepared bids for projects worth over one billion baht could move ahead with the process but were forbidden from accepting bid envelopes until Feb 1 next year, when the new e-auction regulations are expected to take effect.

To prevent price collusion, the new rules will require bidders to compete in bids without being informed of the median price for each project.

Bidding contests for six state projects worth 9.3 billion baht that had been concluded would be endorsed since they had been conducted lawfully and the agriculture and transport ministries which oversaw the projects had been able to persuade the winners to lower their prices. This had helped save the state about 200 million baht. The prime minister was confident that the new e-auction regulations would be ready in time for use with the government's mega-projects.

Government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee said the prime minister had assigned deputy prime minister Visanu Krue-ngarm to improve e-auction rules. Stricter rules were needed to weed out corruption, he quoted the prime minister as telling the cabinet on Tuesday. Also at the meeting, Mr Thaksin ordered Industry Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit to set proper median prices for e-auctions. The prime minister also instructed the Finance Ministry and the Customs Department to improve customs procedures via a one-stop service, eliminating brokers, after research showed the customs clearing process raised the costs of imported goods by 70%.

Morakot Thaweesri, marketing director of Phanthawinit Company, which provides bidding services for the public sector, voiced his support for the improvements. He suggested the state prevent price collusion by screening bidders and checking the quality of goods, bargaining with bid winners to get better prices, and evaluating the performance of the bid organisers.

--Bangkok Post 2005-12-29

Delay the projects, delay having to pay for them, and help pretend that we're not broke ! Or do I have a nasty suspicious farang mind ?

And it was suppposed to solve all corruption around auctions.

What about that case when just in the final moments of bidding someone simply hacked rivals Internet line with a machete? Very low tech but extremely efficient.

Is the lowest bid always the best bid? How many times has a job price been upped, while in progress, due to inflation, oil prices, demands for extra tea money etc?

The prime minister also instructed the Finance Ministry and the Customs Department to improve customs procedures via a one-stop service, eliminating brokers, after research showed the customs clearing process raised the costs of imported goods by 70%.

Hum.... He needed 5 years as Prime Minister to discover this fact that all companies in Thailand know for ages, because they are victims of it... That's a real performance. And the happy new year joke (among many other).

Bravo Thaksin, go and push ahead.