Halting train services cannot be justified

Thousands of travellers were stranded yesterday as some key State Railway of Thailand workers went on strike to protest against the government's plan to restructure the heavily-indebted and loss-making state enterprise. Without advance notice, SRT's union decided to halt train services on some routes. The union is unlikely to gain public sympathy from its campaign that affects a large number of travellers.

The union's decision to stop work, which came without warning, has exposed its insensitivity to commuters. Instead of trying to use reason to back up their campaign to block the government plan to rehabilitate the SRT, the union has chosen an extreme alternative by halting train services.

In fact, the SRT union's strike was simply to protect the status quo of this ineffective rail agency. The union workers are protesting the government decision to proceed with the rehabilitation plan to turn around the operation of this state enterprise, which at present has an accumulated debt totalling Bt72.85 billion.

The Cabinet agreed in March to rehabilitate the operations of three state enterprises, including the SRT. Unfortunately, the SRT union has failed to realise the urgency in overhauling the railway service.

Over the past few years, the SRT has run up losses because it has lacked efficient management. Although the SRT has several land plots, it did not fully and effectively utilise its assets. With a complicated organisational structure that makes it inflexible, the SRT has failed to respond to the changing demands of customers in the new business environment.

The main reason for the SRT union's strike is the government plan to set up two separate units to make its operations more efficient: one overseeing rail services and the other managing its vast assets.

The planned rail-service unit will also oversee the Airport Link, which is scheduled to be operational late this year.

However, SRT labour union chief Savit Keowwaan said the union disagrees with the plan to create two separate units. "We disagree with the restructuring plan because it looks like a step towards privatisation," Suvit said.

The government nonetheless argued the setting up of two separate units was simply to turn around the SRT operations. The rehabilitation plan is aimed at enabling the government to be more involved in the SRT's basic infrastructure and personnel recruitment in line with the objectives of the rehabilitation plan. Eventually, the private sector would have more involvement in the SRT's operations through the planned separate units.

Nonetheless, the government will, under the rehabilitation plan, continue to provide subsidy to the SRT for a community train service. In fiscal 2009, the government will allocate Bt2.355 billion for this purpose.

On paper, the rehabilitation plan should help the government reach its goal of stimulating the economy. Building railways is an essential part of logistics development because it would help business operators save time and also cut the country's energy costs. If the rail system works efficiently, it will help promote competitiveness of the country and also reduce the wasteful import of energy.

However, if the SRT is allowed to operate without any change, it would not be able to support the government's plan to promote the logistics system, which is currently lagging behind our neighbouring countries. In fact, logistics development, with focus on rail development, is included in the second round of the stimulus package. The government has placed priority on the SRT.

If the SRT rail system is developed, when the global economy recovers Thailand will be equipped with an efficient logistics system, which would enhance the country's competitiveness and prepare the nation to benefit from the economic recovery.

There is a general consensus among the public, also backed by recent research by a think-tank group, that the SRT needs to be restructured. It cannot continue in its current state. Otherwise, the monolithic agency would continue to incur losses, draining public money.

In fact, the SRT union should be pleased to see that the government is serious about developing the agency, which has been somewhat neglected for several decades. After all, most railways in Thailand are single-track and underdeveloped for the past 50 years.

Instead of helping realise the vision to turn around the SRT's fortunes, the union is trying to be a spoiler by abruptly calling a strike.

Instead of blocking the plan to restructure the organisation, the SRT union should instead help monitor the plan and ensure it is effectively executed. After all, if the SRT can turn around the operation, the first and direct beneficiaries of the outcome would be the SRT workers themselves. If the operation is successful, the SRT workers can be proud their agency played a key role in promoting the Thai business sector. However, currently the SRT workers do not want to accept change and choose to hold passengers hostage to make their case for clinging to the status quo.