The Treasury Department has come to an agreement with liquor tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, the owner of N.C.C. Management & Development Co, for the second phase of the upgrade of Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC).
All issues including investment size, the concession period and the overall trajectory for the development of QSNCC in the second phase have been concluded, the Treasury Department's director-general Chakkrit Parapuntakul said, without elaborating further.
Under the plan, the current centre will be demolished in order to construct buildings with heights not exceeding 31 metres.
N.C.C. Management & Development first inked an agreement to develop QSNCC in April 1996, though their efforts have been tripped up by Bangkok's height restriction laws.
Under the pre-existing contract, the company is required to construct a 400-room, four- or five-star hotel with a 3,000-car parking lot and 28,000 square metres reserved for commercial activities.
The project will become another icon in Bangkok if it wins the cabinet's approval, he said.
In a related development, the draft of a new contract to develop the 63-rai Mor Chit commercial complex, which was initially won by Bangkok Terminal in 1996, will be proposed to permanent secretary for finance Somchai Sujjapongse later this month, said Mr Chakkrit.
Bangkok Terminal, previously Sun Estate, remains the contract concessionaire, he said.
The project has been in limbo for two decades because the concession was found to have violated the Public-Private Partnership Act of 1992.
In another development, Mr Chakkrit said the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) is expected to hand over the first section of the Makkasan area of Bangkok, covering 150 rai, to the Treasury Department by June.
The debt-ridden SRT plans to lease its 448-rai land plot in the Makkasan area, which is slated for redevelopment, to the Treasury Department for 99 years in exchange for clearing 61.8 billion baht in debt.
The department has also set aside a 20-rai land plot on the bank of Chao Phraya River for development, he said.
The land plot is located opposite to Asiatique The Riverfront, a large-scale riverside community mall which was developed by another real estate arm of Mr Charoen -- Riverside Masterplan Co.
The department has another six-rai prime plot of land in Soi Pipat off Silom Road slated for development, although it has been taken over by squatters. Mr Chakkrit said plans to handle the squatters have been submitted by bidders and would be taken into consideration.
As for the Treasury Department's auctions of state lands to be converted into special economic zones in three provinces -- Trat, Mukdahan and Nong Khai -- he said 10 interested groups had submitted bid documents. Four of the submissions were for Nong Khai, while Trat and Mukdahan received three each.
The agency will decide on the winners 117 days after the bidding submission deadline on May 19.