Thai Government Scraps Plan to Buy Mass Transit Firms - Report

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THAI PRESS: Govt Scraps Plan To Buy Mass-Transit Firms
4 May 2005

BANGKOK (Dow Jones)--The Thai government has scrapped plans to take over the operations of Bangkok's skytrain, which is currently run by Bangkok Mass Transit System PCL, or BTS, and the underground metro line, which is operated by Bangkok Metro Ltd., or BMCL, after the negotiations failed many times, the Post Today reports, citing Utid Tamvatin, head of the negotiation team, and Excise Department Director-General.

The government had planned to buy out the operations of Bangkok's skytrain and subway from the private companies to integrate the city's mass transit systems.

The report cited Utid as saying that the negotiations failed because the operators didn't want to sell their shares to the government,

A financial source cited in the report, however, said the plan's failure was mainly due to the government's attempt to buy the stakes of both companies at par value, which was considered too low.

Newspaper Web site: http://www.posttoday.com