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The Thailand Knowledge Park (TK Park) and Office of Knowledge Management and Development (OKMD) would also be moved to the same place to form an integrated edutainment centre, she said.

Earlier she met with a group of Thailand Creative and Design Centre members led by actress Siriyakorn Pukkavesh who were seeking a review of the decision to move the TCDC out of the Emporium Tower.

Dhipavadee said the members raised three concerns.

They wondered whether the Jaturas Jamjuri Building could provide the TCDC the same services as provided by the Emporium Tower, whether the decisionmaking process for selecting the Jaturas Jamjuri Building was transparent and whether the new location would be as convenient to most members as the current one.

Dhipavadee said the idea of grouping the TCDC, TK Park and OKMD at one place in the downtown Sam Yan area as an edutainment centre was not new.

The Thaksin Shinawatra administration initially wanted to gather the three on the Rajamangala University of Technology Tawanok Uthenthawai campus but faced obstacles, so the three were opened in shopping malls instead.

She promised the group that she would ensure that the services provided at the new location would not be inferior.

Dhipavadee said the move would greatly cut down on operating expenses. In the first six years the relocated TDCD would run up expenses of Bt96.6 million plus moving expenses of Bt81 million, which would total Bt177.6 million. That was much cheaper than paying rent at the Emporium Tower of Bt221 million over the period, and that did not even include utility bills. She said the savings would be used to improve the OKMD.

In the TCDC member group's statement released to the press yesterday, they claimed that the OKMD's study on the TCDC move had mentioned the unworthiness of the idea and the disadvantage of having lower quality and standard services and increased expenses on promoting target groups to come to the TCDC at its new location. The moving of other agencies under the OKMD would also require an explanation to the AuditorGeneral's Office because the move would mean the OKMD would be paying rent for the Jaturas Jamjuri Building while not using the existing sites, which were recently renovated.

The group said they want the OKMD to scrap the TCDC relocation plan because the Emporium was actually cheaper. From 20082013, it would cost the new site some Bt206 million for the total space of only 3,057 square metres. That works out to a cost per square metre of Bt67,562. But the Emporium office had 5,196sqm and incurred Bt221 million in expenses, so the expense per square metre would be only Bt42,578.

They also want the OKMD to review its policy to merge the TCDC with the National Discovery Museum Institute and the OKMD executives' performances to be scrutinised.

The OKMD had nearly two months ago resolved to fold the TCDC into the National Discovery Museum Institute to create the Thailand Discovery and Creative Centre, they said, adding that the new agency was in the process of finding a director.

However, the OKMD executives never explained the new location study results, the service support plan and the compensation scheme for members and private sector donors who had supported the TCDC. The noted that the latest OKMD had already signed a letter of intent with the Jaturas Jamjuri Building on November 28 and was about to ink a lease for the space, they said.

The TCDC is one of the seven agencies under the OKMD umbrella. The others are the National Institute for BrainBased Learning, National Centre for the Gifted and Talented, TK Park, National Discovery Museum Institute, Thailand Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences, and Centre for the Promotion of National Strength on Moral Ethics and Values.

by Piyanart Srivalo

The Nation