A contract for the third phase of the Laem Chabang seaport is expected to be signed by next month if a legal dispute pending in the Administrative Court is cleared in time, said Deputy Transport Minister Atirat Ratanasate.
Speaking during an inspection of the port in Chon Buri, Mr Atirat said the selection committee will pursue talks with the bid winner as soon as the legal hurdles are out of the way.
The ambitious 84-billion-baht scheme is one of five megaprojects under the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
It is set to become the third biggest port in Asean upon completion.
The Port Authority of Thailand (PAT) recently called bidding for the third phase of the project but things are on hold after a disqualified consortium filed a petition with the court against the committee's disqualification order.
The consortium was disqualified because the necessary signatures from all parties concerned, which were required under the scheme's conditions, were missing in the documentation provided to the panel.
Mr Atirat said that once the third phase is completed, Laem Chabang port's handling capacity will be increased to 18 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU) per year, up from the current 11 TEU.
He said he has instructed the PAT to work with the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) on ways to boost cargo transport by rail to 30%, up from its current rate of 7%.
In another move, he has also instructed the PAT to upgrade the A5 Pier at Laem Chabang Port to accommodate a new sea transport route linking Laem Chabang with Prachuap Khiri Khan's Bang Saphan district.