The lack of clarity over its status as a state enterprise may affect a Skytrain route and a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route under its supervision, deputy governor Panit Wikitset said yesterday.

The BMA holds a 99-per-cent share of the company, which was assigned to run the 2.2km Skytrain route at Silom and the 16.5km BRT Chong Nonsi-Ratchapreuk route worth Bt1.9 billion.

In the past there have been debates over a legal interpretation of the company's status as a state enterprise and its running of the city's transport schemes.

If the Council of State ruled that Krungthep Thanakom was not a BMA enterprise, it would affect and delay transport projects under the company's administration, Panit said. The company would have to undergo a procedure according to a 1992 act concerning private firms joining government ventures.

Regarding a claim that the law prohibited local administrations from setting up such enterprises, Panit said he was not aware of such a law and urged it to be shown to him so that he would not have to submit the case to the Council of State.

Panit said he believed Krungthep Thanakom was a state enterprise that had been set up in the same manner as the Petroleum Authority of Thailand.

Former BMA legal and litigation division director Suvit Silathong said Krungthep Thanakom was not a state enterprise and urged the BMA to issue a regulation to clarify the company's status to prevent any problem in the future.

Citing the BMA Act 1985, Suvit said no parts allowed the authority to set up an enterprise or give Krungthep Thanakom "commerce unit" status equivalent to the BMA pawnshops.

A royal decree must be issued prior to an agency's establishment, according to the Establishment of the Government Organisations Act 1953, he said.

The BMA could not simply claim that its 99-per-cent share in Krungthep Thanakom should give the company the status of a state enterprise, Suvit said.

Suvit said that if the BMA insisted on going forward, it could be violating the Act Concerning Offences Relating to the Submission of Bids to Government Agencies 1999 and face charges of malfeasance under article 157 of the Criminal Law.

In related news, Panit revealed that the BMA planned to cancel two "intelligent" projects, including the Intelligent Bus Stops, which have had problems with their Global Positioning System, and the Intelligent Parking Lots, which have not yet been approved by Bangkok Council.

A source also said that Hello Bangkok Company, which gained a concession for advertising space under the Intelligent Traffic Signs project, planned to negotiate with the BMA for a lower space rental fee because the company earned only about Bt60 million per year from advertisement fees due to poor economic conditions.