BMA queries interest added to BTSC bill, will not default on payment: deputy Bangkok governor
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is working towards paying off its debt to the Skytrain operator and will not default, a deputy Bangkok governor announced on Tuesday.
Wisanu Subsompon told the press that BMA has also filed an appeal with the Central Administrative Court over the amount of interest the court ordered it pay to the Bangkok Transit System Corporation (BTSC), which operates the Skytrain.
The deputy governor called a press conference on Tuesday to explain the progress of the 40-billion baht debt, which the city owes BTSC for operating and installing systems for the two Green Line extensions in April 2017.
Wisanu echoed Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt’s comment on Monday, saying that BMA will not default on its payments provided everything is done in line with the law.
Chadchart was responding to video clips being played repeatedly on BTS trains and stations demanding that the BMA or the central government honour the 40 billion baht debt.
On Tuesday, Wisanu said the amount of interest included in the 40-billion-baht debt was incorrectly calculated because the contract signed by BMA’s business affiliate Krungthep Thanakom (KT) and BTSC does not specify the rate of interest it would be liable for if payments were delayed.
KT has hired an advisory company to study the contract and calculate a suitable interest rate, which may change the total amount that BMA has to pay, Wisanu said.
In September last year, BTSC filed a lawsuit against BMA suing it for the 12 billion baht it is owed for operating the Green Line extensions and another 20 billion baht it is owed for the train operating system. The Central Administrative Court on September 7, 2022, ordered that either BMA or KT pay 32 billion baht plus interest, which pushed the debt up to nearly 40 billion baht.
The Green Line was extended in two parts. One runs from Bang Chak to Bearing stations and from Pho Nimit to Bang Wa, and the second runs from Mo Chit to Khu Khot and from Bearing to Keha (Samut Prakan).
