Bangkok Skytrain Deal Could Be Made Void: DSI Chief

[webfact]

Skytrain deal could be made void: DSI chief

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Bt190-billion contract awarded to the operator of the Skytrain may become void if evidence shows the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) had no right to seal the deal, Department of Special Investigation (DSI) chief Tharit Pengdit said yesterday.

"The Interior minister has explained that the mandate for the rail system in Bangkok lies with the ministry, not the BMA," Tharit said. Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit provided the explanation in response to a request for clarification from the DSI, he said.

A preliminary DSI probe into the case started after Pheu Thai MP Prompong Nopparit lodged a complaint with Tharit last month.

DSI investigators resolved early yesterday that the BMA, its legal investment arm Krungthep Thanakom (KT), and Skytrain operator BTSC should provide explanations too.

"They have till June 18 to respond," Tharit said.

The BMA landed in hot water after it awarded the 30-year extension to BTSC via KT earlier this year. Under the deal, BTSC will receive about Bt190 billion for operating and maintaining Bangkok's Skytrain system.

The contract can be divided into two parts: 30 years of services for two Skytrain extension routes that the BMA has invested in itself, and 13 years of services for the original network of Skytrain that BTSC developed as sole concessionaire.

The BTSC concession for the original network will expire in 2029, after which the firm will continue to maintain and operate the system under the Bt190-billion contract awarded by the BMA. When the concession expires, the original network property will belong to the BMA.

Many Pheu Thai MPs have interpreted the move as a form of extending the concession for the BTSC. They have also attacked the BMA for trying to bypass the interior minister in awarding the huge contract to the BTSC, which won the deal without the need to undergo any bidding process.

Tharit said DSI had not decided yet whether to launch a full probe into the allegation. "After we have got official explanations from the BMA, BTSC and KT, the DSI board will make a decision," he said.

Deputy Bangkok Governor Thirachon Manomaipiboon insisted, meanwhile, that the BMA had the right to award the contract because it was a hiring contract, not a concession-extension.

"Besides, after the concession expires, the property of the original Skytrain network belongs to the BMA." He said the BMA saved more than Bt6 billion by awarding the contract for 30 years, not 17 years.

-- The Nation 2012-06-08

[Pib]

It continues to amaze me how often Thai government contracts end-up with major flaws/court challenges, to include apparently unclear rules on who can award the contract. Sure, in western countries contract awards are challenged all the time by a losing bidder(s) usually on some minor technical/contract award issue and the great, great majority of the time the contract award is upheld.

But in Thailand you all so often see another govt agency challenging another govt agency over which agency controls the awarding of the contract. Coordination problems? Unclear law/rules/regulations? Most likely just different political agendas and who gets a share of the money pie.

[frimu]

It continues to amaze me how often Thai government contracts end-up with major flaws/court challenges, to include apparently unclear rules on who can award the contract. Sure, in western countries contract awards are challenged all the time by a losing bidder(s) usually on some minor technical/contract award issue and the great, great majority of the time the contract award is upheld.

But in Thailand you all so often see another govt agency challenging another govt agency over which agency controls the awarding of the contract. Coordination problems? Unclear law/rules/regulations? Most likely just different political agendas and who gets a share of the money pie.

It's a practical system. :-) If sometimes turns out to be unpopular they just find a way to cancel it.

[GentlemanJim]

It continues to amaze me how often Thai government contracts end-up with major flaws/court challenges, to include apparently unclear rules on who can award the contract. Sure, in western countries contract awards are challenged all the time by a losing bidder(s) usually on some minor technical/contract award issue and the great, great majority of the time the contract award is upheld.

But in Thailand you all so often see another govt agency challenging another govt agency over which agency controls the awarding of the contract. Coordination problems? Unclear law/rules/regulations? Most likely just different political agendas and who gets a share of the money pie.

It's a practical system. :-) If sometimes turns out to be unpopular they just find a way to cancel it.

Or someone else gets in power and want to re do the contract so that they can get good graft payments.

[noitom]

A "shift" in loyalties and skim. Very Thai. Reneging on contracts. Very Thai.

[smutcakes]

It continues to amaze me how often Thai government contracts end-up with major flaws/court challenges, to include apparently unclear rules on who can award the contract. Sure, in western countries contract awards are challenged all the time by a losing bidder(s) usually on some minor technical/contract award issue and the great, great majority of the time the contract award is upheld.

But in Thailand you all so often see another govt agency challenging another govt agency over which agency controls the awarding of the contract. Coordination problems? Unclear law/rules/regulations? Most likely just different political agendas and who gets a share of the money pie.

It's a practical system. :-) If sometimes turns out to be unpopular they just find a way to cancel it.

Or someone else gets in power and want to re do the contract so that they can get good graft payments.

I am sure this topic will sink quickly as there is a whiff of corruption from a prominent member of the Democrats. Nice to see Jim already trying to angle the topic that way, rather than have any level of consistency in thoughts for both parties.

I have no idea who is i the right or wrong in this case, although I do find it extremely strange there was no bidding process. i wish all my contracts were not competitive when it came to renewal.

Any comments from our resident yellow shirt sympothizers?

[rixalex]

I am sure this topic will sink quickly as there is a whiff of corruption from a prominent member of the Democrats. Nice to see Jim already trying to angle the topic that way, rather than have any level of consistency in thoughts for both parties.

I have no idea who is i the right or wrong in this case, although I do find it extremely strange there was no bidding process. i wish all my contracts were not competitive when it came to renewal.

Any comments from our resident yellow shirt sympothizers?

I have no idea who is i the right or wrong in this case

Let me help you. It is quite simple actually. Both sides will be found in the wrong if enough digging is done. I don't believe for a second that the deal that the Dems were involved with was done without some graft, and i don't believe for a second that those on the PTP side now involved in trying to void that deal and make a new one, are motivated by anything other than the potential for new graft for them and their chums.

[WhizBang]

But in Thailand you all so often see another govt agency challenging another govt agency over which agency controls the awarding of the contract. Coordination problems? Unclear law/rules/regulations? Most likely just different political agendas and who gets a share of the money pie.

That's it. You hit the nail on the head. It's all about the money involved. No one gives a rat's behind about the service BTS gives to Bangkok, or it's future. Getting your share of the money pie is far more important.

[theajarn]

But in Thailand you all so often see another govt agency challenging another govt agency over which agency controls the awarding of the contract. Coordination problems? Unclear law/rules/regulations? Most likely just different political agendas and who gets a share of the money pie.

That's it. You hit the nail on the head. It's all about the money involved. No one gives a rat's behind about the service BTS gives to Bangkok, or it's future. Getting your share of the money pie is far more important.

...and this is why Thailand is heading into the kind of cesspool the Philippines is. Mark my words... ten years (or maybe even less) from now you'll see beggars in large numbers on the streets. They won't be just on the elevated footpaths or near shopping centres -- they'll be numbering in the dozens at every major intersection in Bangkok. Temples will be up to their ears with beggars. Muggings will happen right inside shopping malls, and infrastructure will be left to rot.

And when this happens, we can all remind the clueless Thais about the people who made it happen -- but nothing will come to be of it. They'll just say they're powerless to do anything about it, and it's not a farang's business anyways.

Edited June 8, 2012 by theajarn

[deesquared]

That was a lot of acronyms !

[waza]

But in Thailand you all so often see another govt agency challenging another govt agency over which agency controls the awarding of the contract. Coordination problems? Unclear law/rules/regulations? Most likely just different political agendas and who gets a share of the money pie.

That's it. You hit the nail on the head. It's all about the money involved. No one gives a rat's behind about the service BTS gives to Bangkok, or it's future. Getting your share of the money pie is far more important.

...and this is why Thailand is heading into the kind of cesspool the Philippines is. Mark my words... ten years (or maybe even less) from now you'll see beggars in large numbers on the streets. They won't be just on the elevated footpaths or near shopping centres -- they'll be numbering in the dozens at every major intersection in Bangkok. Temples will be up to their ears with beggars. Muggings will happen right inside shopping malls, and infrastructure will be left to rot.

And when this happens, we can all remind the clueless Thais about the people who made it happen -- but nothing will come to be of it. They'll just say they're powerless to do anything about it, and it's not a farang's business anyways.

and ex pats will be happy living in the democratic country of Myanmar under the leadership of PM Aung San Suu Kyi. While Thais flock to the border looking for low paid employment and escape from the Democratic Republic of Thaksinland.

Edited June 9, 2012 by waza