PM needs to resolve rail problems for sake of country

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva should pay serious attention to unlocking the conflicts in the debt-ridden state-owned enterprise State Railway of Thailand (SRT) labour union to enhance the nation's mass-transit and cargo transport with quality services and competitive prices.

Many times in the past the SRT labour union has been off from their work. This always ends with nothing happening while people suffer from the stoppage of trains. Yet, the government was content to tackle the problem by not taking any worker who participated in the train stoppage as having quit. But the recent strike of the SRT labour union starting October 16 was a turning point in that there was a showdown between the SRT executive side and the labour side. Up to last Friday, the SRT assigned a law official to file a lawsuit in the Central Labour Court against five employees who were accused of neglecting their duties and causing losses of Bt70.4 million in revenue to the SRT.

The five SRT employees are Sawit Keawwan, president of SRT labour union; Tara Sawangtham; Liam Moke-ngam; Supichate Suwarnachatri; and Arun Deerakchart. The latter four are also union members.

A source at the Transport Ministry said the reason for making a decision to axe the striking employees of SRT governor Yutthana Thapcharoen this time was that he was given a green light from the government. Besides, the leader of the SRT labour union always stands on the other side of Yutthana. If he didn't do so, there could be an opportunity lost in the future, given that its investment plan has hit the skids.

As rail transport is considered the heart of the country's logistics system to link with Asean and China's networks, it was highlighted as a potential business for Chinese railway business investors. Meanwhile, the Thai government led by Abhisit would like to bring in foreign capital by inviting Chinese investors to invest in the construction of double-track railways and high-speed trains.

There will be no huge capital inflow unless the SRT restructures its business, as the enterprise will have to relax its rules and regulations in a favour of the investment environment. Meanwhile, the labour union continually crimps the SRT's business restructuring.

If the SRT can unlock this problem successfully, it would be able to pursue its plan and get away from carrying a huge debt of Bt47 billion. What it needs to do is make its role clearer: operator or regulator?

Following the latest plan, the SRT was designed to spin off its business into three subsidiaries: operations; asset management; and investment firms. In case the SRT wants to be an operator, it was suggested it establish the Railway Department as a regulatory body for overseeing the railway business.

However, which way the SRT should go has yet to achieve a consensus. This could become a big problem at the political level.

The five-year investment plan (2010-2014) worth Bt80 billion for improving and constructing the rail-way system announced by SRT chairman Tawalyarat Onsira last week is believed to be the "cause" of the conflicts among parties involved with the projects.

About Bt42 billion will be used for constructing double-track railways, Bt20 billion for procuring new rolling stock and Bt17 billion for improving the railway safety.