Cabinet backs SRT to run Chatuchak

The BMA, currently run by the opposition Democrat Party, said it would put up a legal fight to hang on to Chatuchak, whose vendors staged a rally at Government House yesterday.

The Cabinet “acknowledged” SRT’s plan to reclaim the market, which means that a new group will be in charge of leasing market stalls, not to mention the fact that the Democrats would lose a political tool.

A source at the Transport Ministry said the Cabinet’s decision to hand the management of Chatuchak over to the SRT only paved the way for some new operator taking over the space-leasing duties. 

The source said it is widely believed that vendors need a “good connection” before they can lease a space. Also, the space is leased and sub-leased on several levels and vendors end up paying anything between Bt11,000 and Bt20,000 per month. 

In addition, the source doubted if the SRT benefited greatly from the Cabinet’s decision, because now it had the additional responsibility of improving the market’s landscape. 

The holders of around 7,000 of the total 8,805 stalls have said they will continue leasing their space from the SRT. The vendors have reportedly agreed to pay Bt2,800 a month in leasing fees to SRT, in addition to Bt700 per month in management and garbage-collection costs. 

The source said the ministry was planning to turn Chatuchak into a walking street.

A second source, a former SRT board member, said the BMA could take this case to the Administrative Court and seek protection for six months. According to the source, the Cabinet had overruled the 1979 contract between the BMA and SRT, and the only way to solve this problem was to seek a new resolution. 

Under the State Railway of Thailand Act 2535 (1992) amendment, SRT would have to set up a separate company, with a registered capital of Bt50 million, to run the leasing business. 

The BMA, meanwhile, is trying to hang on to Chatuchak Market, and will today seek legal advice on how it can fight the Cabinet’s decision to put the market in SRT’s hands on January 2, without the mandatory 60-day wait.

BMA Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said he would check details first before seeking legal advice. He also responded to Deputy Transport Minister Chatt Kuldiloke’s comment that the BMA was being a thug by refusing to negotiate, saying that it wasn’t up to him or Chatt to talk as there was a panel for this matter and that the city had not taken anyone’s property. 

Deputy Governor Pornthep Techapaiboon said the BMA had accepted the Cabinet’s decision but would seek legal advice on how it can continue operating the market. He said the city’s income would only drop by Bt20 million in terms of rent from market vendors. 

Meanwhile, Pravit Wittayakha-jornsart led 100 some vendors to a rally outside Government House yesterday to demand that the authorities stick with the 1979 resolution to have the BMA run the market. They also called on the Transport Ministry and the BMA to jointly decide on the fees and extend leases by another 30 years, adding that they would keep fighting if the management were to be handed over to the SRT. 

Another group of vendors, led by Nareumol Saehoon, also gathered at Government House to say they wanted the new management to be fair and extend the lease contract by 30 in a direct deal with the government.