The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has been accused of shady dealings in its handling of the Chatuchak Market after vendors complained it had raised the rental rates 10 times they paid City Hall earlier to cover expenses.
Paiboon Nititawan, a member of the now-defunct National Reform Steering Assembly, said on Monday he received complaints from vendors at Bangkok’s popular weekend market about the SRT charging them 10 times the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) did.
"Some 5,000 vendors are in trouble and could not seek justice from authorities," he said.
In addition to sluggish sales, hundreds of them are facing lawsuits and thousands more would meet the same fate, he added.
After checking the facts, Mr Paiboon said the SRT had told the Administrative Court the higher rates were the result of adding administrative costs to the rentals.
A check into the SRT’s expenses found a 396-million-baht contract for cleaning services of which there was only one bidder, indicating possible corruption, Mr Paiboon said.
Another contract for security services has been in place since 2012 and the SRT has paid the contractor 350 million baht to date, a sum Mr Paiboon thinks is too high.
By comparison, when City Hall managed the market, the security fee was five times and the cleaning fee 11 times the amount paid by the SRT now, he claimed.
"Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the prime minister and chief of the National Council for Peace and Order, had pledged to help people in need and to tackle corruption. We’d like to ask him now to help some 5,000 vendors and their families by investigating the irregularities and punishing corrupt SRT officials.
"Some 5,000 vendors are in trouble," says Mr Paiboon. (Photo by Pattanapong Hirunard)
"Besides, the law doesn’t allow the SRT to manage the market. What it has done violates the laws in several ways," said Mr Paiboon, who is also chairman of the People’s Reform Network.
Mr Paiboon, a lawyer, pledged to provide legal advice to the vendors.
In 1982, the BMA rented the land where the market is located from the SRT for 30 years to sublet it to vendors. The contract ended on Jan 1, 2012.
The Yingluck Shinawatra government decided to let the SRT manage the market, citing the very low rentals -- City Hall received 147 million in rentals from the market over 30 years.
Chaos ensued as the SRT demanded a restructuring of the market and raised the rental rates. It started charging vendors in a range between 900 and 3,562 baht per stall depending on locations, compared to a monthly flat rate of 300 baht charged by BMA for all stalls.
The vendors filed a petition with the Central Administrative Court, claiming according to the SRT law, it was not authorised to operate a market or any business other than those related to railways.
The court ruled the SRT could not charge vendors administrative fees for the market but it could charge a management fee for the land, at 2.75% of the land value a year.
The SRT appealed the decision and the case is still pending.
As some 1,000 vendors refused to pay the rentals, the SRT suffered a loss of 300 million baht in two years after it took over the management. By comparison, the BMA made a profit of 30 million baht a year.
The SRT has expenses of 400 million baht a year while income was 100 million baht. City Hall profited 80 million on revenue of 120 million baht a year.
The market has 8,000 stalls in 27 projects. It sells eight types of products: vegetables and fruit; garments; pets; plants; cooked food and ready-to-eat food; fresh food and miscellaneous goods.