SRT union under heavy fire

The State Railway of Thailand labour union has come in for a barrage of criticism from passengers and business operators for its stoppage of nationwide passenger and cargo services.

They say the union has hurt low-income travellers and the country's image.

But the union insists it is protecting the interests of railway staff and the public.

Train drivers and engineers called in sick yesterday morning under a directive from the union.

Some local and Bangkok-bound provincial trains rolled on in the morning but only in order to get to their destination.

Inbound passenger trains arrived at Bangkok's Hua Lamphong terminus and stayed put. All cargo trains stopped at the Kaeng Khoi station in Saraburi province except for the ones destined for the Laem Chabang deep sea port in Chon Buri which were halted at Si Racha.

Trains in the far South ground to a halt when they reached Hat Yai station in Songkhla province.

Passengers who had booked tickets for yesterday turned up to claim refunds. But those wanting refunds on advance bookings had 20% deducted in line with SRT regulations.

Passengers who did not know about the strike were upset, especially low-income earners who rely heavily on free rail services. In Bangkok, free passenger buses were used to transport rail passengers from Hua Lamphong to bus terminals in Bangkok.

At the Chiang Mai railway station, Kia Sae-hang and 18 friends arrived to catch their train in vain. Ms Kia said they usually caught a free train to their classes in Phitsanulok every morning.

Hill tribe people in the province could not afford other types of transport so the strike hit them hard, Ms Kia said.

At Yala railway station, one passenger complained the strike had left him with no means of getting to work.

He said needed to catch a train to work in Raman district every day. Rail was the only means of transport left after the insurgency in the South halted the passenger bus service from Muang Yala to Raman several years ago.

Suwanlop Puwabunditsin, chairman of the Ayutthaya Chamber of Commerce, said the rail strike would hurt Thailand's image all the more.

Tosapol Wangsilabut, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries in Ayutthaya, said foreign investors would consider Thailand a place of endless protests. Luckily, most of the Thai industries depended on road transport rather than rail, he said.

Adul Suthiwanich, head of the SRT union in Kaeng Khoi, Saraburi, said rail staff had no choice but to protest against the government plan to change the structure of the SRT as it was being done without giving staff their say.

The restructure calls for the private sector to take over rail services, and this would hurt the public by pushing up fares, he said.