Petition campaign urges competitive bidding for high-speed rail project
A petition campaign was launched in change.org on Sunday, calling for more transparency in terms of the appointment of contractors for the planned Thai-Chinese high-speed railway project by adopting a competitive-bidding auction system.
The campaign, which has already got more than half of its target of 5,000 signatures, suggests that competitive bidding could screen the most efficient contractors to work with Thailand. The current government-to-government model, however, does not allow Thailand to have more options on railway technology.
It was launched by a user named Zirikorn Photichack three days after Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha had issued an Article 44 order under the interim charter to grant multiple legal exemptions to the project.
The PM’s order, the campaign says, could violate good governance, sound financial principles, and equal state treatment, as stipulated in the current charter. Its legal exemptions could also violate the amended 2011 bill on countering corruption, it said.