SEPO maps ‘3+8’ overhaul of Thailand’s state enterprises
SEPO plans to rehabilitate three state enterprises and restructure eight others, with the Thai Airways model among options to improve flexibility and state asset value.
Thailand’s State Enterprise Policy Office (SEPO) is preparing a major restructuring of state enterprises under a “3+8” reform plan, covering the rehabilitation of three organisations with accumulated losses and a review of another eight that could involve mergers, subsidiaries or reducing state ownership below 50%.
SEPO Director-General Tibordee Wattanakul said the initiative was designed to address structural problems, ease the fiscal burden and open the way for greater private-sector participation to strengthen the long-term competitiveness of state enterprises.
The approach also draws on the Thai Airways International model, under which the state reduced its shareholding below 50%, giving the airline greater flexibility in procurement and personnel management while increasing the value of the government’s remaining investment.
Three state enterprises targeted for rehabilitation
The first group comprises three state enterprises currently undergoing rehabilitation: the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA), the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) and MCOT Public Company Limited.
Each organisation is pursuing a different strategy reflecting its operating circumstances.
The BMTA is accelerating a project to lease 1,520 electric buses, with the first batch expected to be delivered in March 2027.
The electric fleet is expected to reduce energy and maintenance costs. The BMTA is also coordinating with the Transport Ministry on a revised bus-route network aimed at reducing duplication with urban rail services and strengthening buses’ role as feeder connections to the rail system.
The SRT, meanwhile, is pursuing seven rehabilitation measures proposed by the railway authority itself.
These include allowing private operators greater access to railway infrastructure, increasing train frequencies with services operating around the clock, and developing and managing SRT-owned land to generate additional income.
A SEPO subcommittee has returned the plan to the SRT, asking it to provide clearer revenue projections, required budgets and implementation timelines before resubmitting the proposal.
MCOT is seeking to respond to intense competition in the media and digital television industry by restructuring its management under a new board and seeking partners with specialist expertise to help reshape the organisation and restore its long-term competitiveness.
Eight more enterprises face structural review
The second part of the plan covers eight state enterprises whose roles and organisational structures are under review.
Tibordee said the process had been under consideration using study findings dating from late 2024. The names of the eight organisations will not yet be disclosed because the proposals must first receive approval from their supervising ministries.
Potential restructuring options include mergers, establishing subsidiaries and reducing the government’s shareholding below 50% to provide greater operational flexibility.
SEPO has been working with the ministries responsible for each enterprise to identify suitable reform models.
Three of the eight restructuring proposals have already received in-principle approval from their supervising ministries and are expected to be submitted to the State Enterprise Policy Committee (SEPC) for consideration in late September 2026. The SEPC is Thailand’s central body responsible for setting overall state-enterprise policy and development direction.
Thai Airways model offers restructuring template
Tibordee acknowledged that reducing government ownership below 50% could be sensitive and have wide-ranging implications.
However, he pointed to Thai Airways International Public Company Limited as an example of how such restructuring could improve commercial flexibility.
The government reduced its stake in Thai Airways in 2020, enabling the airline to operate with greater independence in areas such as procurement and human-resources management.
Tibordee said Thai Airways had subsequently recovered from a period when the value of its shares had fallen close to zero to reach a current market capitalisation of more than THB120 billion.
The Finance Ministry’s remaining 38% stake is now worth about THB50 billion, compared with an investment value of around THB21 billion in 2024, he said.
The experience demonstrates, according to Tibordee, that reducing the state’s shareholding can serve as a commercial restructuring strategy capable of preserving or increasing the value of public assets while giving businesses greater room to compete.
SEPO’s “3+8” programme therefore represents more than a financial rehabilitation exercise. It signals an effort to reconsider how state enterprises should be structured and managed, with greater emphasis on efficiency, commercial agility and the long-term value of assets held by the government.
