But the government will ensure that the free flow of capital and economic expansion continues by accelerating work on neglected needs, such as the state budget.

"We will not intervene in the stock market, because we want it to be driven by [the market] mechanism, and it can do well now. We will not issue any measures to artificially stimulate the stock market," he said.

He said the government wanted to put the five priority mass-transit projects back on track. Only one of the three routes the previous government had prepared for bidding actually have detailed designs already finished. The others only have definitive designs and would have been open to "design and build" contracts.

"By improving work procedures, we expect the details of these two routes to be completed in four months, and bidding can take place around March. We also found some duplication of tracks and stations on the northern route, which is comprised of three rail lines.

"We decided to cancel one of the rail lines, which will help save about Bt40 billion, and we believe that changing the bidding from design and build to detailed design should also save a considerable sum," Pridiyathorn said.

The bidding will be finalised next September and the construction process will be started in October.

He said the government was also considering constructing a Green Line extension, to be funded by the savings from cancelling the underground project and changing the bidding terms.

The government will proceed with a two-phase water-management project that will prevent flooding, as well as prevent droughts by storing water.

The government will open bidding for terminals at marine ports, including those in Laem Chabang, Songkhla and Surat Thani, in order to improve efficiency as part of its logistics policy.

Oranan Paweewun, The Nation