Several contractors monopolise state construction projects: study
There is a lack of competition for government construction projects, Tippatrai Saelawong, a senior researcher at the Thailand Development Research Institute, said on Monday.
Five contractors had won up to 60 per cent of total projects auctioned by some state agencies, Tippatrai said. Even worse, the same few contractors were awarded projects worth 80 per cent of total project values in many provinces. He was speaking at the TDRI annual academic conference 2017.
Tippatrai, who conducted a study on state building projects, also found that e-bidding had saved more money for the government than e-auctions.
E-bids – or Internet bidding – for state procurement projects had saved the government as much as Bt56 billion last year, he said.
E-bidding allows people anywhere to bid for government projects, while an e-auction requires bidders to stay at the same place, so e-bidding generally draws more participants and is more competitive.
Currently, the government uses many different methods for government procurement.
