The Transport Ministry is looking for a site in the Rangsit area for a new bus terminal to serve the northern and northeastern lines and replace the Mor Chit terminal.
The ministry and its two major state enterprises, the Transport Co and the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), at a meeting on Tuesday agreed the new interprovincial bus hub should be in Rangsit.
Mor Chit mainly serves buses going to northern and northeastern provinces. A few selected routes to central, eastern and southern provinces also start at Mor Chit.
The present terminal, on 70 rai of land, is the property of the SRT and the agency wants it back to build a new central railway station.
Permanent secretary for transport Soithip Traisuth said the Transport Co will return 53 rai of land at Mor Chit to the SRT, keping only 16 rai to serve interprovincial buses and vans on routes to destinations 300 kilometres or less from the capital.
"We have come to the conclusion that part of Mor Chit will be kept for the Transport Co's use and a new main bus station will be built in the Rangsit area,'' Mrs Soithip said.
The decision needs approval from the boards of the SRT, Transport Co and from Transport Minister ACM Prajin Juntong, she added.
Mrs Soithip said the new bus terminal must be on Phahon Yothin Road and no farther out than Thammasat University's Rangsit campus in Khlong Luang district, Pathum Thani.
Acting Transport Co managing director Nopparat Karunyawanich said land purchase should be settled no later than August and construction could begin next year for completion by 2018.