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Published on November 1, 2007

For years, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has been criticised for inefficiency in improving its network and services. Given that the railway provides a vital means of mass transportation, the state enterprise has been told to maintain its fares despite the recent spike in oil prices. To date, it has racked up accumulated losses of Bt23 billion, which is one of six complaints raised by the union.

The SRT, in fact, could have offset this loss with gains from its land holdings nationwide. However, rents are low and the board has been attacked on this point also. Allegations are rampant that some directors have colluded with tenants to keep rents down for their own personal benefit.

For years, most of SRT's annual budget has gone to maintain the rail network infrastructure, which is about a century old. Due to the huge logistics costs, the Surayud government stepped in with a reorganisation plan.

The national railways legislation is to be amended to focus on operations, including encouraging private companies to use the railway network more.

The government says there will be no lay-offs, but employees are disgruntled at the prospect of any change.

The strike is thus, by itself, not a surprise. The real surprise is who may emerge as the saviour in this situation.

All of a sudden, Admiral Bannawit Kengrien's name has sprung up, after he was mentioned by SRT union leader Riangsak Kaengkan.

According to Riangsak, Deputy Transport Minister Sansern Wongcha-um and the SRT board of directors have been insincere in their attempts to solve the six contentious points raised by the union.

This, Riangsak said, had forced him to submit a petition to Bannawit, who serves as chairman of the National Legislative Assembly's transport committee.

Bannawit has been in the picture for some time. He has frequently been at odds with Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen and his deputy Sansern, earlier telling the media that the SRT would scrap negotiations with Central Group for the renewal of a property lease and open a general bidding process. The statement upset Theera and the SRT board, which are bound by a 30-year contract with Central Group to negotiate with the tenant before opening the bidding process. Further upsetting Theera was Bannawit's reported call for an SRT board meeting recently.

The stand-off was taken to another level when Bannawit reportedly accused former deputy transport minister Phumtham Wechayachai of corruption regarding the dissolution of Thai Maritime Navigation and establishment of TMN Co, which allegedly profited Phumtham. Bannawit accused Theera of carrying out a deliberately slow investigation into the matter.

However, the Transport Ministry's investigation concluded that the previous board of directors of Thai Maritime Navigation, including Bannawit as vice chairman, were involved in the falsification of some shipping documents for their own benefit. Bannawit was in favour of keeping Thai Maritime Navigation alive so that he could benefit from using the company's fleet to ship goods to state agencies, according to anonymous sources.

Bannawit lashed out against the investigation's findings with a threat to launch a no-confidence debate on Theera.

The admiral has emerged as a loose cannon, launching broadsides at the government after one of his close friends, General Saprang Kalayanamitr, was passed over for promotion to the post of Army Chief. His actions since then have been more in line with the attacks against the Surayud administration made by former members of the People's Alliance for Democracy, including media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul.

Bannawit maintains relations with many former leaders of the PAD, including Somsak Kosai-suk, a former chief of the SRT union. Many of the SRT staff are known to have helped organise street protests against former PM Thaksin Shinawatra last year.

A source at the SRT said that the strike was caused by dissent among a small number of employees who were misled about possible lay-offs due to the ongoing changes at the SRT. The same group is also unhappy about the board's refusal to raise salaries, the source said. 

"There were drivers and mechanics ready to replace those who had reported sick, but they dared not go to work without support from their bosses and because they were under threat from disgruntled employees," the source said. "This is an internal conflict and the union has decided to seek outside support. Isn't it surprising that most of the six points the union has raised match those raised previously by Bannawit?"

Making the scene all the more colourful is the fact that Bannawit has announced he will be running for Parliament when the National Legislative Assembly term expires. Certainly, if the government and the SRT union cannot reconcile, and if Bannawit emerges as the successful mediator who stabilises train services for the general public, the admiral stands to win hugely from this situation.

 The Nation