A consumer watchdog is urging Bangkok Council to adopt a proposal believed to be an ideal way of keeping ticket fares on the Green Line, the city's main electric rail system, low and resolving other matters surrounding the line's concessions.
Ahead of today's council meeting, Thailand Consumers Council (TCC) submitted five main suggestions, said Saree Aungsomwang, its secretary-general.
She said the council is expected to weigh up two options in setting the new fares on the Green Line's second extension, comprising two sections -- Bearing-Samut Prakan and Mo Chit-Saphan Mai-Khu Khot.
The options are whether to adopt a single fare of 15 baht per ride on these sections or to set the starting price at 14 baht and then charge passengers two baht for every subsequent station, she said.
The TCC has encouraged Bangkok Council in the proposal already submitted to it through city governor Chadchart Sittipunt to choose the first option and cap the maximum fare for riding the entire line at 44 baht, said Ms Saree.
It also urged the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to negotiate with the Ministry of Finance about transferring the 69.1-billion-baht in debt incurred through building these two extensions, as well as the right to operate them, to the ministry or the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA), she said.
The TCC asked the BMA to adopt securitisation as a means of converting its assets into securities to raise capital to pay off all the other debts it has incurred in the Green Line project before the concession for operating the main section of the line expires in 2029, she said.
This way, the BMA will have full control of all 59 Green Line stations, she noted.
The TCC wants the BMA to ask the cabinet to nullify an order allowing the concession to be extended to 2059.