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Battling for Bangkok
Chuwit campaigns to shed costly megaprojects
NAREERAT WIRIYAPONG
Chuwit campaigns to shed costly megaprojects
While other candidates for Bangkok governor are campaigning to accelerate money-consuming mass-transit projects, Chuwit Kamolvisit is taking a different approach.
The massage parlour king-turned-politician wants to drop the big-ticket projects and let the central government handle their construction.
''The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has an annual budget of only 60 billion baht, which has almost run out after paying its more than 100,000 employees,'' said the outspoken candidate.
''Bangkok has to stop megaprojects (done by the city itself) that involve a big amount of money,'' he said, citing the need to avoid conflicts of interest and enhance the transparency of these projects.
''The BMA just rents one room in a house comprised of many rooms,'' he said. ''This is similar to the country in which the central government is in charge of every province.''
Mr Chuwit also criticised policies of his arch-rival Apirak Kosayodhin, the Democrat Party incumbent, doubting how the capital's budget could handle the mass-transit rail projects that require hundreds of billions of baht.
''I would rather talk and co-ordinate with the authorities involved to link an electric train project with the neighbouring provinces of Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani and Samut Prakan,'' he said.
To make the most of the city's budget, Mr Chuwit said the BMA should outsource non-core activities and concentrate on projects that tackle social problems such as garbage, pollution and health care.
On the economy, Mr Chuwit vowed to bring his expertise to govern Bangkok to make it a peer of London, New York and Los Angeles.
Mr Chuwit, now 47, holds an MBA from the University of San Diego and started the business that created his fortune when he was 33. At their peak, his six luxurious massage parlours generated one million baht a day. He formed his political party in late 2003 before entering the Bangkok governor race for the first time in 2004 and finished third with 300,000 votes.
His slogan for the Oct 5 Bangkok vote is ''Initiate, Accelerate, and Monitor'' to draw support from voters.
Mr Chuwit said he would enhance the ability of business entrepreneurs in various districts of Bangkok to develop projects in their communities. A private organisation would be set up to manage these projects, such as tourism, markets, and Otop (One Tambon One Product).
''The BMA staff lack business expertise. Thus we need to rely on the private sector to develop the economy. We will encourage them to team up together in order to get support from the government,'' he said.
An important initiative of his is to turn Bangkok into a tourist city such as Paris, Singapore or Hong Kong.
About 80% of the Bangkok population work in service-related businesses. The city has tourist attractions such as temples, while food, shopping centres and friendly local people are also key strengths.
While promoting tourism, Mr Chuwit said better city planning and management would help cleanliness, pollution control, and security of tourists.
He is also pushing a ''polluter-pay principle'' for Bangkok businesses in which environment taxes would be collected from big polluters such as shopping malls and major buildings.
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