Commuters board a BTS skytrain at one of the stations in central Bangkok.

The completion of the new Suvarnabhumi airport by 2005 is widely expected to be delayed, mainly because of contractual delays and the lengthy process for choosing contractors.

Contractors must go through 25 pre-qualification procedures and 27 tender procedures. All agreements must be approved by the Japan Bank for International Co-operation, the major creditor.

Delays of up to one year are being suggested by some industry experts.

A panel assigned to speed up work on the new international airport at Nong Ngu Hao has accepted that delays seem inevitable. Work could not be completed before October 2005, members said.

ACM Napporn Chanthawanit (second from right), chairman of NBIA Co, briefs Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Pracha Maleenond, deputy transport minister (third from right) about features of the new Suvarnabhumi Airport late in September.

At least 14 projects are critically behind schedule and this is likely to affect the whole project. The areas running behind schedule include the cargo terminal, catering, car parking, water distribution and waste-water systems, a co-generation power plant, central utilities and the eastern runway.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and its member airlines have expressed fears that slow decision-making by executives and bureaucratic tangles would delay the opening of the airport to 2007 or beyond.

Even if it opened on time, the airport would be incomplete and lack full facilities for the estimated 30 million passengers expected to pass through it annually, IATA executives warned. If both the new airport and the existing facility at Don Muang were to be used, airlines fear a logistical and financial nightmare.

According to industry data, eight foreign airlines have moved their regional operational centres away from Bangkok because of worries over the delays as well as high airport fees and operational costs.

Most relocated to Singapore, dealing a blow to Bangkok's ambitions to be a regional aviation hub.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has personally assured that the Suvarnabhumi airport would be ready to begin operation in mid-2005 with a capacity to serve up to 40 million passengers annually, up from the 30 million planners had envisioned earlier.

A colourful cake forms the centrepiece at the celebration of the third anniversary of the Bangkok Transit System Co skytrain service early in December.

The capacity could be increased to 40 million per year without the state having to spend another six billion baht to expand the airport's passenger terminal, officials now say.

Adjustments would be made to the terminal's management plan to achieve the targeted capacity increase and keep alive Bangkok's plan to become a regional aviation hub, the prime minister said in response to foreign experts' criticism of the new airport's limited capacity and construction delays.

The passenger terminal, concourse, runways, aircraft bay and other facilities would be completed by 2004. Testing would take about six months, and the project would be in operation in mid-2005, Mr Thaksin assured.

The 125-billion-baht project on the southeastern outskirts of Bangkok was first proposed 42 years ago to replace Don Muang airport in northern Bangkok.But frequent government changes, allegations of corruption and the 1997 Asian financial crisis held up the plan.

Construction on the terminal finally began in December 2001. The completion of the new airport is a key goal of Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, who took office in October after a cabinet reshuffle.

He also has expressed considerable enthusiasm for other efficient mass-transit systems _ the subway, expressways and the skytrain.

However, Prime Minister Thaksin conceded that a mass transit system would not be completed in time for the new airport's opening, but said the existing expressways and new road links should be able to initially serve the airport.

Mr Thaksin, as chairman of the airport committee, had asked for a mass transit tunnel to be incorporated into the plans for the airport compound, with advance funding from NBIA.

The tunnel would serve the yet-to- be-designed mass transit system. To date, the government has not decided which agency should develop this transport option and bear the cost.

Mr Thaksin said there would be additional public works involved in the airport construction but the overall budget would not exceed the 100- billion-baht ceiling.

Delays are also compromising the opening date of the city's 20-kilometre underground railway, linking Hua Lamphong to the Bang Sue area.

The concession holder, Bangkok Metro Co Ltd (BMCL), admitted the operation's opening will be delayed from July of 2003 until May 2004 at the earliest.

The holdup was attributed mainly to the delay in the signing of the initial agreement with the Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA), the state enterprise responsible for the project.

Some 20 trains had been ordered from Siemens, the German manufacturer, with the first one to be delivered in November of 2003. At least another six months would be needed for testing of the system.

The company insisted the timetable was in line with the contract that BMCL had signed with the MRTA, which owns the 20-km subway project, and it asked the MRTA to postpone the start date of the Hua Lamphong- Bang Sue route, known as the BlueLine, from July 2003 to August 2004.

Civil works for the subway project, worth 63.6 billion baht, are 98% complete. However, the installation of the 17.5-billion-baht train system, for which BMCL is responsible, is only 12% complete.Signing was originally scheduledfor July 1999, with the service to start in July 2003. The signing was delayed for 13 months, until Aug 1, 2000, but the start-up date was left unchanged.

The contract gave BMCL just 48 months to complete the project. One significant reason for the delay is that BMCL has been unable to solicit sufficient loans from financial institutions.As well, the MRTA changed the train manufacturer, prompting further production rescheduling.

The fact that BMCL would be unable to introduce commercial service in July 2003 has also made it liable to fines of seven million baht a day.

The delay is projected to be at least one year. Accordingly, the consortium could be liable to pay more than 2.5 billion baht. A working group is now studying the legal conditions surrounding the imposition and collection of the fine.

Despite the expected delays, Transport Minister Suriya still insists that Bangkok's underground rail system must be up and running by January 2004, eight months ahead of the schedule set by BMCL.

This directive is aimed at seeing the project finished as quickly as possible in order to relieve Bangkok's traffic congestion, which is starting to increase in line with fast-rising growth in new vehicle purchases. In the middle of November, Mr Suriya led a delegation to Germany and Austria to hold talks with top executives of Siemens over the possibility of speeding up delivery of the trains for use in the metro system. It was hoped they could deliver them before January 2004.

Siemens was awarded the 18-billion- baht contract to supply rolling stock for the subway. The company also produced carriages for Bangkok Mass Transit System Co, the operator of Bangkok's skytrain system. Though the opening of the underground train has yet to occur, the MRTA is now pressing hard to win government approval for an extension project, claiming it will end up deep in debt unless the subway is extended.

The MRTA has proposed extending the Blue Line southward from Hua Lamphong to Bang Khae, a distance of 13 kilometres.

The southern extension would cost about 40 billion baht. If approved, work could start in 2004 and the system could be ready to serve passengers in 2007.

The National Economic and Social Development Board has already approved the extension project from Hua Lamphong to Bang Khae. Linking inner Bangkok with western Thon Buri would ease traffic congestion in Thon Buri and around Rattanakosin Island.

The extension could draw about 190,000 commuters a day, with the original 20-km route drawing 240,000 passengers.

While the subway extension appears to be gaining support, the planned extension of the existing skytrain route has been stalled. The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) has yet to come up with firm details on extensions to the skytrain and its possible financial participation, while the Bangkok Mass Transit System Co (BTSC), the operator, has been struggling to complete the restructuring of its 35 billion baht in debts.

Routes from Onnuj to Samrong (8.9 km), Saphan Taksin to Taksin Road (2.7 km) and Mor Chit to the Ratchyothin junction were approved in principle in January 2002.

According to the plan, the government and the BMA would share the cost of civil works, while BTSC would meet the cost of tracks and operating the trains, similar to the investment structure for the subway project.