Opposition contends that concessionaires may profit from changes to the three-airport rail line contract.
PUBLISHED: 25 Mar 2025 at 20: 47
Suriya Jungrungreangkit, the minister of transportation, has refuted the opponent’s claims that the state is attempting to negotiate two” very offers” for more than 100 billion ringgit with the concessionaire for the delayed high-speed rail project connecting Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, and U-Tapao flights.
The orator made an effort to defame the facts by using his own thoughts to deceive the audience, according to Mr. Suriya.
He was responding to claims made by Surachet Pravinvongvuth, a list-MP of the criticism People’s Party, on Tuesday during the debate over the firing of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
Mr. Surachet claimed that the Paetongtarn authorities had renegotiated the agreement signed on October 24, 2019, at the expense of the taxpayers.
The State Railway of Thailand ( SRT ) and Asia Era One, a consortium led by the Charoen Pokphand ( CP ) Group, signed the original contract in 2019. The joint investment plan included a concession agreement to run the Airport Rail Link ( ARL ).
According to Mr. Surachet, the two super deals are being brokered in favor of a group he described as” a gigantic group of travel buyers.”
The government has agreed to pay the concessionaire up to 159.8 billion ringgit as part of the proposed contract correction, which could result in significant losses for the government, he claimed.
Additionally, the MP claimed that the government may request from the SRT to award the concessionaire the right to use and develop for up to 50 years a story of 141 rai in Bangkok’s Makkasan and another 25 ra of SRT property in Chon Buri’s Si Racha area.
According to Mr. Suriya, those ideas have not yet been finalized. He claimed that the Office of the Attorney General and other state firms are still under investigation.
The minister even refuted claims that he had been involved in deal disputes with the task linking the three flights, claiming that it had been delayed for years by previous governments.
Asia Era One requested payment for the Covid-19 epidemic because of declining customer numbers on the Airport Rail Link. In 2021, the contract’s update was approved by the Prime Minister’s cabinet, Prayut Chan-o-cha.
However, despite the pandemic, much progress was made, in large part due to delays in the seizing and moving property needed to construct the rail line.
The SRT and other organizations are also reviewing any more changes to the deal. The deal is anticipated to be submitted to the cabinet for final approval second month, when construction would then be finished in May or June.
The three-airport road series, which was actually scheduled to open in 2024, is then anticipated to go into operation in 2029 or 2030.