The labour union also plans to lay a black wreath and submit a petition to caretaker Finance Minister Thanong Bidaya.

Union leaders, including their chief, Sirichai Maingarm, submitted the first petition to caretaker Energy Minister Viset Choopiban yesterday.

Sirichai said the ministry should show responsibility after the Supreme Administrative Court's March 23 ruling nullifying two decrees that supported last June's transformation of Egat into a public company. "Anywhere else, the government would have resigned after the ruling. But here, they vow to proceed with privatisation, an act of ignorance in light of the court's verdict," he said.

Sirichai pointed out that renewed efforts to privatise the power utility would certainly draw opposition, and then the government would have to fight the public. "The public has a better understanding of this issue after the court verdict, that power is one infrastructure that affects people's well-being and thus should not be privatised," he said.

He also lamented the Finance Ministry's earlier notion that Egat power plants could be spun off as part of the privatisation process.

Earlier, Egat span off a power plant in Ratchaburi, and it is now managed as a 45-per-cent-owned subsidiary of Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Plc. Egat also owns 25 per cent of Electricity Generating Plc, which operates a power plant under the independent power-producer (IPP) programme.

"Raising funds on the stock exchange is not always the answer. Indeed, Egat could raise funds on its own, but the government kept saying that would increase the public debt, even though it knew the power industry involves all of the people," Sirichai said.

Sirichai also supported civic groups' plans to seek the Supreme Administrative Court's endorsement for nullifying the privatisation of PTT Plc, formerly the Petroleum Authority of Thailand.