After more than a week of criticism, the governor of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has issued a postponement of the 33 million THB deal given to a private company to build the Grand Station’s new signs.
According to reports from PPTV and the Manager, Nirut Maneephan, the SRT governor signed the postponement order on 9 January 2023. It is not immediately clear how long the project will be delayed.
SRT has been subject to a week of criticism from public figures, netizens, and the media after its deal with Unique Engineering and Construction Public Company Limited (UNIQ) was made public.
UNIQ signed a contract with SRT to replace the existing Bang Sue Grand Station name sign with a new one bearing the name Krung Thep Aphiwat, as bestowed by King Vajiralongkorn in September 2022.
What sparked public anger was the cost of the name-changing project - 33,169,726.39 million baht, or about 1 million USD - and the fact that UNIQ got the job without bidding taking place.
SRT insists that the costs were due to the construction method and the project was awarded following budget bureau procedures.
Transportation Minister Saksiam Chidchob told the media last week that an investigation has been ordered. According to Thai Post, Saksiam stated on 10 January that the National Anti-corruption Commission (NACC) has requested further documents to probe into the investigation. The Ministry of Transportation also set up an internal investigation committee on 5 January and was ready to cooperate with NACC.
Commissioned in 2021, Bang Sue Grand Station was built to replace the centuries-old, iconic Krung Thep Grand Station at Hua Lamphong. Its 2,475 rai (about 3.96 million sq m) space surpasses Malaysia’s KL Sentral in size, making it the largest station in Thailand and ASEAN.
As of last year, the station was ready to accept 136,000 passengers per day, a throughput that will increase to 624,000 per day in the next decade. Linked with transportation infrastructure, the station is a hub for trains, metro light rail, and airport commuter transport.
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