Democrats attack govt on airport, lack of rail spending, rice subsidies

Such investment would not reduce the country’s high logistics costs, which are currently 18 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), he said, pointing out that developed countries have logistics costs of only 10 per cent of GDP. 

He blamed the government for failing to invest in a double-track railway planned for by the Abhisit Vejjajiva government. 

The Abhisit government planned to invest in four double-track railway routes from Bangkok to Chiang Mai in the North; Ubon Ratchathani and Nong Khai in the Northeast; Rayong in the East; and Padang Besar in the South. The Yingluck Shinawatra government, however, has maintained plans for only one route – Bangkok to Chiang Mai. The South route has been shortened to Hua Hin, while the Northeast branch will go only as far as Nakhon Ratchasima. 

Samart also attacked the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning’s Bt400-million plan to study the railway system, saying many studies have been done by previous governments. 

 He was also worried about recent repairs of one of the runways at Suvarnabhumi Airport. He said underground water could still cause damage to the runway, which would erode airlines’ confidence in the capacity of Thailand to be a hub of air transport in the region. Last month, runway repairs resulted in high costs for airlines, as planes had to wait to land and passengers faced delays, the MP said. 

As the government plans to build another runway at Suvarnabhumi, it must make sure that the construction can withstand the underground water, he said. 

Samart accused the government of discriminating against some of the airlines that plan to move back to Don Mueang Airport as part of a plan to ease congestion as Suvarnabhumi. The government has offered many incentives to new airlines that plan to move to Don Mueang, but not to those that have used Don Mueang in the past, he said. 

Supatchari Thammaphet, another Democrat MP, recommended that 2 per cent be trimmed from the Bt70-billion budget allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. She said the government had been unable to solve farmers’ problem of low prices, while taxpayers were expected to foot the bill for the expensive rice-subsidy policy. 

The rice-pledging scheme has resulted in lost export opportunities totalling Bt100 billion, she said, adding that the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), which implemented the rice subsidy, is expected to lose about Bt100 billion. 

Rubber-sheet prices during the Abhisit government were high, peaking at Bt180 per kilogram, but have fallen during the Yingluck government to about Bt70 to Bt75 per kg, she said. 

During the Budget Bill debate yesterday, the opposition continued to question the government on transparency. It pressured the government to hand over reports of how it had spent budgets of Bt110 billion and Bt30 billion to tackle flood-related problems. The Democrats first requested the reports on Wednesday. 

Bangkok MP Wilas Chanpitak said he had found irregularities in projects of the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, alleging that gifts given to children were quoted as costing Bt165, while the actual cost was below Bt100. Moreover, he found photocopies of identity cards were requested from people attending a ministry-sponsored trip, and were asked not to sign their names on the photocopies. In another case, people were asked to sign as having received Bt400 from a ministry project, when they actually received Bt200.

Speaking on the budget of the Tourism and Sports Ministry, MP Somboon Utaiwienkul said the government should invest more in the promotion of sports.

“Do you [the House committee on the 2013 Budget Bill] know that the Department of Physical Education receives only Bt2.5 million for its project to promote domestic technologies to develop sports science and technology?,” he asked.

“Thailand is going to the Olympics, right? The project to promote sports science to develop basic sports potential was allocated at Bt4.5 million for the whole year,” Somboon said.