Purple line favours big thai boys

"In the first and second contracts, a qualified bidder's turnover in the past three years must be at least Bt10 billion per year, so only three companies can qualify, Italian-Thai Development, Ch Karnchang and Sino-Thai Engineering," the anonymous contractor said. "The minimum turnover in the third contract is Bt5 billion, and that increases the number of potential bidders to five."

Foreign bidders, though qualified in terms of turnover, could be blocked by another specification that requires bidders to have won government contracts here, the source said.

Under the ToR, bidders are scored according to their financial capability (30 points), personnel capability (20), construction-equipment capability (20), overall plan (15) and technical approach and methodology (15).

All bidders must get at least half of the maximum points in each category in the first evaluation.

Then they must pass the second and third evaluations, which require qualified bidders to have at least 60 per cent of the maximum score.

The contractor said this went against conventional practice, with some items included in the scoring to favour certain contractors, for example the owners' net worth, though this has never figured before in the state bidding process.

"These conditions will block Thai contractors with less than Bt2.5 billion in registered capital and Bt10 billion in annual turnover from participating. As the bidders will be few, this could lead to price collusion," he said.

MRTA governor Prapat Chongsanguan brushed aside the contractor's criticism, saying the ToR followed international competitive bidding practices and all Thai and foreign companies were allowed to compete freely against one another.

The requirement of Bt10 billion in annual turnover is the amount used worldwide in similar tenders, he said.

"The project is of high investment value, and we're tapping funds from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. This requires an experienced and financially strong contractor to ensure that the work would not be left unfinished. If a contractor with low registered capital or turnover is picked for this mega-project, the chance of failure will be high," he said.

The MRTA has sought the JBIC's opinion at every step in drafting the ToR, he said.

"The JBIC itself also stressed free competition. It would not have allowed us to pre-specify the winners through the ToR. The JBIC will also witness the bid-screening to ensure transparency," he said.

The bidding documents were made available from April 21-May 2. Companies have 90 days to submit bids.

The work is split into two route sections and a depot.

A total of 14 companies picked up bidding documents for the first 12-kilometre east section with eight stations. Bids are due on August 4.

The second section, an 11km elevated route with eight stations, attracted 17 companies. Their offers must be submitted on August 6. The third contract covering a maintenance yard and a parking building drew 23 companies, which must submit bids on August 8.

The Cabinet recently raised the mass-transit project's civil-works budget by 15 per cent from Bt31 billion to Bt36 billion to cover inflation in construction materials and avoid having to call for a new round of bidding if the quotes are above the median prices.