The source said the Treasury Department would propose to the Cabinet in the next two weeks the resumption of construction suspended since the 1997 financial crisis.

Just before that hit the department awarded a 30-year contract to Sun Estate Co, which subsequently changed its name to Bangkok Terminal Co, for the construction and operation of an office building, shopping mall and transport centre worth Bt17 billion.

Though some groundwork was done, there were complications with the project, which was finished off by the impact of the crisis.

A former chief of the Treasury Department was suspected of taking a kickback, and then the State Council, the government's legal advisor, ruled that the contract between Sun Estate and the Treasury Depart was invalid as contravening the 1992 public-private joint-venture law.

The source said the Finance Ministry would restart the project by asking the Cabinet to approve new investments and would then call for bidding.

As the previous contract was illegal, the ministry will treat the project as an entirely new one.

However, the source said the original contractor might sue the Treasury Department and Finance Ministry for compensation, even though it would be illegal to resume the old project.

There will be a fresh investment plan as the Transport Company, an arm of the transport ministry which currently operates the new Mor Chit bus terminal on Kampaengphet Road, is not interested in the project.

The original plan covered 63 rai, of which 40 rai has now been occupied by the BTS terminal.

Wichit Chaitrong

The Nation