SRT wants ready cash from Lat Phrao contract

The cash-strapped State Railway of Thailand will discuss with the Finance Ministry ways of utilising the Central Lat Phrao rental contract it granted to the Central Group in order to solve its acute lack of liquidity.

SRT governor Yuthana Tupcharoen said last week that

the agency would consult the Finance Ministry about whether there was any financial instrument that it could use to manage the contract in such a way that it could acquire a large amount of cash in advance.

He said Central would pay Bt579 million this year and Bt600 million next year to the SRT under the rental contract, but this is not enough for the state agency to solve a cash crunch next year.

Moreover, the SRT has yet to make pension payments to those staff who retired this year.

Central Inter Development, a subsidiary of the Central Group of Companies, finally won a 20-year contract recently from the SRT to rent and manage the Central Lat Phrao project. The rental fee for the period is Bt21 billion, aside from a Bt2.4-billion budget to renovate the shopping centre.

The government has already provided the SRT with Bt8 billion in financial support this year to solve its liquidity problem.

The agency has debts of more than Bt51 billion. It will propose

to the government that the sum

be cut by Bt39.45 billion, in ac-

cordance with its rehabilitation plan.

Yuthana said the SRT would do its best to seek new revenue sources by focusing on developing its land assets in Phaholyothin and Makkasan - plus those in major provinces - into commercial land.

The SRT owns 234,976 rai

of land across the country, of

which 198,674 rai is the core area

to be developed to serve its rail

business, leaving the remaining 36,302 rai for commercial development.