Skytrain operator set to sue Bangkok City Hall over Bt30bn debt
BTS Skytrain operator Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTSC) said it will sue Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) for a debt of nearly 38 billion baht it owes in operating and installation fees.
BTSC executive director Surapong Laoha-Unya said the debt has built up since April 2017. It comprises two separate amounts – 18 billion baht in operation and maintenance fees and almost 20 billion baht for installations.
The debt has increased because the BMA has failed to pay costs for operating the Green Line extension since 2017. A previous BTSC lawsuit suing BMA and its business arm Krungthep Thanakhom (KT) for 12 billion baht in Green Line operating costs since 2017 was accepted by the Administrative Court.
Both sides were scheduled to submit documents to the court this week but requested an extension.
Suraphong added that BTSC is gathering documents to file a lawsuit with the Administrative Court over the 20-billion-baht operation and maintenance debt.
BMA also owes 55 billion baht in civil engineering costs for the Bearing-Samut Prakan and Mo Chit-Khu Kot Green Line extensions incurred by the original owner, State Railway of Thailand. Interest on this debt has grown to around 10 billion baht.