Bangkok: The Ministry of Transport has been allocated a 40 billion baht budget as part of an economic stimulus package, as revealed by Mr. Suriya Juangroongruangkit, the Minister of Transport. He emphasized the importance of negotiations between Airports of Thailand (AOT) and King Power to maintain existing benefits.
According to Thai News Agency, the Subcommittee on Budget Screening reviewed a total of 157,000 million baht to be distributed among various agencies. The Ministry of Transport initially proposed an allocation of 60,000 million baht, which was subsequently reduced to 40,000 million baht. Both the Department of Highways and the Department of Rural Roads are prepared with ready-to-execute projects and procurement processes.
The government aims to expedite short-term investments to quickly inject funds into the economy. The Ministry of Transport is prepared to commence investments as planned in early July, focusing on projects ranging from 5 to 15 million baht. However, final decisions on budget allocations are expected to be clarified in an upcoming meeting of the Economic Stimulus Policy Committee, chaired by the Prime Minister.
Mr. Suriya also addressed the issue of King Power's proposal to amend contracts for duty-free shops at Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Hat Yai airports, which are under AOT's management. He urged both parties to negotiate effectively to achieve similar income levels as before, emphasizing that opening a new bidding process could lead to uncertainties regarding AOT's potential benefits.