BANGKOK, April 27 (TNA) – The State Railway of Thailand has concluded that it would have to pay 25 billion baht in total as compensation to Hopewell (Thailand) Co for its decision to terminate the company’s mass transit concession contract about two decades ago.
Deputy SRT governor Ek Sittivaekin said the sum consisted of 12-billion-baht compensation and 13-billion-baht interest. The SRT would send its request to the Transport Ministry on April 29 and the cabinet will consider it on April 30.
“The SRT will ask the government and the Transport Ministry to help pay this debt because the SRT already has an accumulated debt of about 120 billion baht,” he said.
The SRT would borrow mainly from local financial sources to pay the debt to the government later, he said.
SRT chairman Kulit Sombatsiri said the burden was a concern and the SRT board would find out why SRT executives had not warned the board of the issue beforehand.
In 1990, SRT granted its 30-year-long concession for Hopewell (Thailand) Co to build elevated tollways and railways above its 60-kilometer-long railway tracks in Bangkok. Due to long-delayed construction, it terminated the concession in 1998. (TNA)
