The so-called scrutiny superboard, led by former Bank of Thailand governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul, on March 20 will choose the most appropriate terms of reference (ToR) for the five delayed double-track railway projects from the four options proposed by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT).
One of the options is maintaining the previous ToR, while others involve amending them, Mr Prasarn said.
If an option that involves amending the ToR is chosen, it could take about four and a half months to amend the conditions, or 6-7 months when taking the bidding process into account, he said, adding that the three-year construction period would remain unchanged.
The scrutiny superboard was appointed to supervise state procurement projects in the wake of alleged irregularities in the SRT's double-track railway projects, which earlier resulted in the transfer of the agency's governor, Wuthichart Kalyanamitra.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had issued an order under Section 44 of the interim charter to set up the scrutiny superboard to oversee seven projects worth a combined 129.8 billion baht.
The superboard will first pick five projects for consideration.
The five projects are the 19-billion-baht Nakhon Pathom-Hua Hin section, the 23-billion-baht Lop Buri-Pak Nam Pho section, the 28-billion-baht Map Kabao (Sara Buri)-Thanon Chira Junction (Nakhon Ratchasima) section, the 9.8-billion-baht Hua Hin-Prachuap Khiri Khan section, and the 16-billion-baht Phrachuap Khiri Khan-Chumphon section.
The projects were delayed after the SRT announced it must carefully vet all potential bidders before holding the auction, as the projects are big and expensive.
There are two other double-track railway projects -- the Thanon Chira Junction-Khon Kaen section and the Chachoengsao-Kaeng Khoi route.
According to Mr Prasarn, it is the duty of his panel to consider whether the proposed terms open up opportunities for bidding collusion.
The panel further needs to consider attracting more bidding participants, for example, by downsizing each bidding project lot to allow small developers to join the race, thus creating competition.
But completing the projects efficiently must also be considered, Mr Prasarn said. The new ToR will also be applied to bidding in the future, he said.