The State Enterprise Policy Office (SEPO) approved a rehabilitation plan for another loss-making state-owned enterprise, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA), on Monday.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha chaired SEPO’s meeting when they approved of the plan; however, it still needs further approval from the cabinet.
Minister of Transport Saksayam Chidchob said last week that the BMTA will also rent electric buses from private businesses and introduce a flat-rate price as part of its rehabilitation plan.
The fare will be 30 baht per day for adults with unlimited rides. The current fare is at 15, 20 and 25 baht per ride based on distance.
A top-up electronic card will also be introduced at 15 baht per ride or 30 baht per day. The price for the elderly will be set at 15 baht per day.
There will also be a monthly card for students at 630 baht per month, averaging around 21 baht per day. Adults who wish to purchase the monthly card can buy them at 720 baht per month (an average of about 24 baht per day.)
BMTA will rent an additional 2,511 air-conditioned electric buses from private companies as part of its rehabilitation plan. Coupled with the 489 NGV buses that they purchased earlier, this will bring its total number of air-conditioned buses to around 3,000 vehicles in Bangkok.
The auction process will begin in June and the rent will be based on the distance used. They will also hire a private company to operate 1,500 buses and the rent will be based on distance as well.
This privatization means that the BMTA will not be saddled with all of the maintenance costs as they have been in the past.
BMTA’s 269 existing bus routes will also be reduced to 108 routes to avoid duplication. This could mean the loss of 5,000 jobs as employees are forced into an early retirement program.
The company currently has approximately 13,600 employees.
The ultimate goal for BMTA is to make a cost-effective revenue of at least 60 million baht per year in seven years’ time.
The SOE now owes more than 172 billion baht in debt.
[Photo Courtesy of BMTA]
