"They asked about the political situation here, as the Constitution Tribunal is to decide whether to dissolve political parties, and the possibility of a general election taking place in December," Pongpanu Svetarundra, director-general of the Public Debt Management Office, said yesterday after a meeting with the officials.

Pongpanu said he assured the officials that the investment plans would not be changed. "However, I can assure them only to a certain extent," he conceded.

He said the government wanted the loan to be granted before August, when it plans to open bidding for the construction contracts.

Another team of Japanese advisers to the projects are here to conduct a feasibility study that will be completed in July, he said.

If the government cannot get a loan of about ¥300 billion (Bt85 billion) by August, it might need to borrow from the domestic market by issuing bonds, Pongpanu said.

"Borrowing from the local market might partly finance the initial spending, which is not much," he said.

Meanwhile, Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) governor Prapat Chongsanguan said two electric-train projects were at the stage of preparations for opening of tenders, outlining of designs and conducting of environmental-impact surveys.

"After this is done, the funding will be depend on negotiations between Ministry of Finance and JBIC," he said.

The total loans sought for the three projects already approved by the government - the Purple, Red and Blue lines - is about Bt84 billion, or 52 per cent of the total investment of Bt160 billion in five planned rail routes. The balance amount will come from the government and from domestic loans of Bt13 billion.

Wichit Chaitrong

The Nation