The debt-for-asset swap plan for the State Railway of Thailand's land in Bangkok's Makkasan area has encountered a hiccup due to different rental appraisal values by the Treasury Department and the SRT.
The department appraised a rental value of no more than 30 billion baht, well below the 50 billion appraised by the SRT, a department source said.
The SRT appraised the 497-rai plot in Makkasan, valued at 195 billion baht, based on data from its land appraisal adviser in 2010, determining a rental fee for a 50-year lease of 100 million baht a rai or 50 billion total, the source said.
However, the department has argued the SRT's appraisal price of 250,000 baht a square wah is too high, as the market price stands at 210,000 baht. The department's appraisal price is 115,000 baht per sq wah.
The SRT recently agreed to lease the Makkasan plot for a certain period to the Finance Ministry to clear part of its hefty debt. The 700-rai plot comprises a large swamp and 497 rai of land that can be developed.
That land includes the Airport Rail Link's Makkasan station and an SRT hospital. The loss-ridden SRT was saddled with 153 billion baht in debt as of the end of fiscal 2014.
Chakkrit Parapantakul, director-general of the Treasury Department, said his agency would propose the State Enterprises Policy Commission or superboard make a decision if the stalemate continued.
The department has hired experts from Thammasat University to appraise the land, with the results to be forwarded on June 19 to the economic chiefs of the National Council for Peace and Order. Final details of a lease have not been settled yet.
Some 150 of the 497 rai will be developed as a public park, 30 rai for a museum and 317 rai for commercial purposes.