Initially, the schemes drew lots of local and international attention as Thaksin suggested that the government would be very flexible and innovative in considering bids from international firms interested in the mass-transit schemes. Yet, no one knew exactly how such a huge investment, estimated to total in excess of Bt500 billion, would be financed.

The government originally set April 2006 as the deadline for international bidders to submit their proposals. However, political turmoil broke out in late February and Thaksin opted to dissolve the House of Representatives and call a snap election. However, the April 2 polls were later nullified, leaving his political future hanging in the balance.

Now, he has returned to work full-time as caretaker premier, asserting that the next election is still several months away so he could not leave the country's affairs in the hands of his deputy any longer. This week, Thaksin chaired his first Cabinet meeting after a six-week break from official duty and then gave the go-ahead for three of the 10 proposed mass-transit lines.

The first line, the Red Line, is an extension of the mass transit airport link to Don Muang and Chiang Rak on the outskirts of Bangkok. The second line, Blue, is an outer ring line to Bang Khae. The third, Purple, will run from Bang Sue to Bang Yai. However, no further details were given to the public except that the loss-making State Railway of Thailand and the Mass Rapid Transit Authority would be inviting proposals from the private sector.

Why the rush, given that the current Thaksin administration is just a caretaker one? According to law, a caretaker government is not supposed to make major decisions that would be binding on the future government. Kanin Boonsuwan, a constitutional expert, even called the move "illegal".

"It runs against the Constitution's intention for the fiscal budget to be approved by a Parliament [that is not there at the moment]," he was quoted as saying.

Pongsak Ruktapongpisal, the caretaker transport minister, however, asserted that these schemes - as well as the plan to buy 2,000 natural-gas buses for the city's bus authority, which is currently under the central government's jurisdiction - are "urgent" matters because oil prices have kept rising.

This argument sounds similar to the one used earlier by Apirak Kosayodhin, the elected Bangkok governor who is also a deputy leader of the opposition Democrat Party, in pushing ahead three new extensions of the existing Skytrain mass-transit system.

Over the past two years Apirak has become familiar with the partisan politics played by the arch rival Thai Rak Thai Party, who lost the Bangkok gubernatorial election in 2004.

The Democrat governor had to resort to a vote in the Bangkok Council to push through a two-kilometre extension of the Skytrain's Silom Line to the Thon Buri side of Bangkok because the government repeatedly refused to financially support the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA)'s scheme. This was even though the concrete structure had been completed much earlier and only signalling equipment and rolling stock were required to start the service.

It took hundreds of motorists and Thon Buri residents to complain publicly and the majority vote of Bangkok councillors to authorise the use of the BMA's own funds of around Bt2 billion to get the plan off the ground last year. This extended service is scheduled to begin in late 2006.

Last month, Apirak announced publicly that the BMA would proceed with another three extensions of the Skytrain system to ease traffic congestion and help save fuel bills for motorists amid the unrelenting rise in oil prices.

On Thursday, the governor again won the majority vote from Bangkok councillors to go ahead with his plan, using the BMA's own funds to finance the first 5-kilometre extension of the Sukhumvit Line from On Nuj to Sukhumvit 107.

Critics of the opposition party might be surprised to see the Democrat governor working much quicker than before. One reason often suggested by Thai Rak Thai rivals is that the speedy moves are to woo voters for the election in late July to the Bangkok Council, where the Democrat Party controls the majority of 28 seats compared to the Thai Rak Thai's 23 seats.

More importantly, the governor will need to do more significant work for Bangkokians in his remaining two years of office if he hopes to win another four-year term. One strategy to boost his popularity is to implement a few extensions of the Skytrain system to reach outer areas of Bangkok. The governor even suggested that he would divert part of the Bt20-billion-plus budget for building new tunnels and roads to fund the rail extensions, because the latter were far more energy-efficient.

For Thaksin, the Democrat Party's drive to win over Bangkok voters is quite worrying given that his own party's popularity has lately plunged to a low ebb and the next general election is still months away. Hence the go-ahead this week for three mass-transit lines.

 Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

 nop1122@yahoo.com