SRT wants to take over from BMA, raises rent
Play
The Transport Ministry will submit a proposal to Cabinet today to set up a company under the State Railway of Thailand to operate Chatuchak Market. It wants to take control of the site from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration from March 1.
The BMA, which rented abandoned SRT land near Chatuchak public park in the city’s north and developed it into a popular weekend market, said the current contract ends on July 1 and it would seek intervention from the Central Administrative Court.
Transport Minister Sukampol Suwannathat, who oversees the SRT, said: “We are certain that SRT owns the land and is entitled to govern and commercialise the property. I am responsible for my decision to set up the firm to take over Chatuchak Market and ready for any legal battle.
“SRT has been in a position of disadvantage to the BMA, which has been overexploiting the Chatuchak Market on SRT-owned property. We are confident that the new firm could effectively run the market after the takeover, although most vendors don’t have much confidence in the SRT,” he said.
Deputy Bangkok governor Pornthep Tejapaibool said the BMA was proposing an annual rent of Bt79 million, for the 68-rai plot, while SRT wants Bt420 million. He said a Cabinet decision in 1979, when the market was first opened, mandated that it was a BMA duty to provide markets helping small-time vendors to sell good and cheap products to the residents in the capital.
SRT governor Yutthana Thabcharoen admitted the debt-ridden SRT had an image problem in regard to transparency and the expectation of running efficient businesses, but vowed to improve things to boost confidence among the public and vendors.
He complained that the BMA paid only a small rent – initially just Bt1.6 million a year, then Bt24 million under the current contract.
In regard to the BMA’s statement that the contract ended on July 7, Yutthana said that was an extended period for the city to relocate tenants and not an actual active phase of the lease. He said the SRT would prefer to buy out all offices and infrastructure from the BMA while the stalls and shops belonged to vendors. They did not need to be relocated or dismantled.
The new firm is an SRT subsidiary and would open on paid registered capital of Bt50 million. Yutthana said Cabinet could lay out guidelines to make sure the SRT would benefit after the takeover.
There are now 12,807 stalls under contract with the BMA, including around 4,000 that pay rent at higher daily and monthly fees.
Pornthep said he hoped today’s Cabinet decision would be a win-win solution for both the SRT and BMA, with the latter allowed to operate the market under a deal backed by the SRT. If the SRT was allowed to take over and run the market without BMA involvement, a new name may be needed, because “Chatuchak Market” was granted by His Majesty specifically at BMA request, he said.
