Govt yet to explain why it torpedoed world expo bid

Public suspicion grew after Democrat Party deputy leader Korn Chatikavanij dropped the bombshell in a posting on his Facebook page, saying that the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) had already disqualified Ayutthaya as a contestant for the venue of World Expo 2020.

The BIE said it disqualified Thailand because the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had expressed no eagerness to contest the event.

When BIE representatives made a trip to Ayutthaya to inspect its readiness, they found that the Thai government had prepared nothing for the BIE entourage to see.

Worse still, the BIE sent a letter to the Thai government to ask it to reaffirm its intentions, but the government let the June 11 deadline pass without replying to the letter. The BIE then held a meeting in Madrid to consider the readiness of candidates and decided that Ayutthaya be disqualified from the bid.

Korn drew attention to the issue on his Facebook page on the evening of June 12. However, there was no reaction from the government. This raised doubts among the general public. The government, which is directly responsible for its actions, should have clarified the issue, but no word came from any government agency or official involved in the expo bid.

Ministers in charge remained silent and acted as if nothing had happened – contrary to the usual Pheu Thai government stance, which is to respond immediately to criticism directed at the administration.

The opposition demanded an explanation from the government and this prompted Akkapol Sorasuchart, former director of the Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau, to strongly raise the issue with the government. Akkapol was formerly in charge of preparations for the World Expo 2020 bid.

He alleged that the government had intentionally aborted its quest to host the event, adding that he believed Thailand had a good chance of being awarded the expo as several countries were willing to back the Kingdom. He said he believed there was definitely an ulterior motive behind the government’s decision to abort its bid attempt.

Akkapol said he suspected that the government did so because it wanted to pave the way for another country to be selected as the winner. On the list of candidates for the expo event is Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Akkapol’s allegations strengthened the Democrats’ position on the issue, which was initially raised in early 2012. The Democrats alleged that the Yingluck government deliberately forfeited the contest for the World Expo 2020, to ensure that the UAE would continue to provide Yingluck’s older brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, with a convenient place to live. Thaksin is currently living in exile there.

At that time, Yingluck responded by saying that the government would immediately take up the issue and make the fight to hold the World Expo 2020 its national agenda.

But it turns out that Ayutthaya has been eliminated as a qualified candidate.

Yingluck has not kept her word at all, because her government never made the expo event part of its national agenda, and there was no organised campaigning by the government in its bid to host the event. On the contrary, her government unexplainably pulled out of the bid to hold the event. It was as if the government had entered a 100-metre race but then dropped out just a few metres before the finish line – puzzling cheering audiences.

Following the allegations made by the Democrats and Akkapol, Yingluck and her Cabinet should immediately explain the issue instead of letting public doubt linger.

Moreover, the government has already spent over Bt400 million to campaign for the right to host the event, so it seems the money has been wasted for nothing. 

It would be forgivable if Thailand lost after it had fought hard in its bid for the expo. 

If the government has thrown in the towel due to a certain hidden agenda, as alleged, the people would find this unacceptable. 

The government must clear up the lingering doubts now, or Thais will discover the answer for themselves.