SRT to get more power to recruit

even as Sophon assures services to be restored in two days

Cabinet will today consider relaxing rules to give the State Railway of Thailand greater flexibility in recruitment, after some disgruntled locomotive engineers went on strike over the weekend, leaving southbound train services suspended beyond Surat Thani.

The SRT reported that 241 engineers and mechanics out of the total of 2,000 had walked off the job, driving the operation of 30 southbound trains haywire.

The SRT legal department has filed charges against workers who were unreasonably absent and set up a disciplinary committee.

Transport Ministry sources said the SRT cannot hire more than 5 per cent of those reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60. Most engineers and mechanics are veterans and belong to the SRT labour union, which opposes the government's restructuring plan for the SRT.

Transport Minister Sophon Saram said during his visit to southern stations that services would resume in one to two days. He told workers at Hat Yai Station, who claimed services must be halted due to maintenance problems, that the ministry was ready to decommission locomotives in service for over 50 years.

In the morning, he instructed all other state units to provide bus and transport services to stranded passengers on the southbound route.

Sophon had pushed for Cabinet approval for the restructuring plan, which included the setting up of a company to run the new Airport Express rail service linking downtown Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The "restructuring" move is seen as a step towards privatisation by some inside the SRT union.

The SRT management also threatened to take legal action against protesting personnel as they were causing damage to the SRT and the general public.

Krikkla Sonthimas, chairman of the Federation of Logistics Thailand and a member of a committee, said a government-sponsored study suggested the realigning of rules to develop train services, private participation in operations and free competition in the industry.

The SRT should be transformed into the Railway Department, so that development projects - including the improvement of nationwide railroads - could be fully financed by the government budget.

Companies should be welcomed to run the operations, like bus and subway services. The Railway Department could operate its own trains, but it needed to compete with private operators.

"If all these processes go ahead, I believe SRT employees would dare not strike again," he said. He noted the improvement should be done quickly as transportation by train is economical and the least polluting. With mobility in trade and investment, Thailand would earn huge benefits when integrated with other Asean nations.

Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said the problem with the SRT was internal conflict and inefficient management, not inadequate funding. Due to the problems, the SRT had been slow in spending its budget, he said.

As per State Enterprise Policy Office statistics, in fiscal year 2009 ended September 30, the SRT disbursed only 47.30 per cent of its Bt16.19-billion budget.

Korn said the government also gave priority to investment in the rail system under the government's economic stimulus package, in return for the restructuring. However, the restructuring had been delayed due to internal conflict.

Without reforms at the SRT, the country's competitiveness would lag due to high logistics costs, he said.

Academic Sangsit Piriyarangsan urged the speedy overhaul of the SRT following the strike and the fatal accident in Prachuap Khiri Khan, as many commuters and the entire economy were being held to ransom.

Following the accident, the SRT management and employees pointed the finger at the condition of equipment and some employees. This was a good opportunity to upgrade the workforce, operations, locomotives, train carriages and other equipment, he said.