BANGKOK, April 22 (TNA) – The Supreme Administrative Court ordered the State Railway of Thailand to pay 11.88 billion baht in compensation for Hopewell (Thailand) Co for unfairly terminating its mass transit project in the past.
The ruling overruled the Central Administrative Court that dismissed the authority of an arbitration committee which demanded the compensation in November 2008.
Under the final ruling, the SRT would pay 9 billion baht worth of the construction cost of Hopewell, return 2.85-billion-baht land use fee, pay 38 million baht for Hopewell’s guarantee issuance fee, and return the 500-million-baht guarantee. The compensation is subject to 7.5% annual interest and all must be paid in 180 days.
In 2014, the Central Administrative Court rejected the ruling of the arbitration committee, saying Hopewell filed its complaint on Nov 24, 2004, after its five-year deadline to do so had fallen on Jan 30, 2003.
The Transport Ministry through the SRT granted the 30-year-long concession of the 60-kilometer-long Hopewell transit project for Bangkok in 1990. Its construction was then estimated at 80 billion baht. Financial problems halted its construction until the government officially terminated the contract in 1998. (TNA)
