"It could be after the Songkran festival," said Suchart Wonga-nanchai, director of the Special Crime Bureau - a unit under the DSI.

He noted that unlike the case that involved the Bangkok Metro-politan Administration, whereby losing bidders filed a petition themselves, this alleged collusion about WFS-PG Cargo was sparked by word of mouth.

"We need to verify the statements by calling those who are involved to testify. The inter-

rogation will be based on the list of individuals submitted to us," he said.

The DSI was recently given a document that showed possible collusion in the bidding and a list of individuals involved. The

document was completed by a

sub-committee of the Senate Committee on State Enterprise Privatisation.

Lt Gen Narong Amatayakul, acting Phitsanulok senator and chairman of the sub-committee, said yesterday there was evidence of irregularities involved in Airports of Thailand Plc's (AOT) awarding of the concession to WFP-PG Cargo.

"We submitted our investigation results to the DSI, which has decided to proceed in finding more evidence," he said. "If it is conclusive that there was collusion, the contract could be revoked."

The AOT/WFS-PG Cargo affair flared up earlier this year following complaints of collusion that were submitted to the sub-committee.

Narong said the sub-committee had investigated the issue and found that in opening the warehouse bidding, the AOT adjusted the terms of reference (TOR) on equipment specifications and technical scoring criteria in a way that benefited WFS-PG Cargo.

He said the company won the bid, though it did not follow through with the TOR, and offered the AOT a higher return that resulted in higher operating costs at Suvarnabhumi than at Bangkok International Airport.

The bidding result was announced in November 2003, whereby WFS-PG Cargo offered the highest returns to AOT. The minimum return in the first year for the warehouse business was offered at Bt155 million, against Bt111 million by Thai Airport Ground Services Co Ltd (TAGS) and Bt72 million by SPI-CTI consortium.

"We found that there was collusion that would benefit the bid winner by Bt80 billion throughout the 20-year concession," Narong said.

He said the sub-committee earlier asked the Auditor General's Office for assistance. "An officer at the office found that the bidding was against the bidding law," he said.

According to the non-profit organisation, Corruption Investigative News Network, WFS-PG Cargo is 51 per cent owned by Worldwide Flight Services Holding SA.

Among the Thai shareholders are Bangkok Airways and a number of individuals - Puthipong Prasartthong-osot, Pradit Theekakul, Tawatwong Thanasumit, Naruemol Chainaknan, Parinyaporn Sutheerachai, Kasama Thatsanasri, and Thanant Banchongdee.

Worldwide Flight Services was founded 20 years ago to provide multi-faceted airport services in 130 airports globally.

Sucheela Pinijparakarn,

Prapasri Osathanon

The Nation