Thaksin lawyers may sue banks

Bangkok Post - Lawyers for the Shinawatra family have threatened to take legal action against commercial banks which have frozen a total of 65 billion baht of the family's assets if they do not free the assets because the Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) will soon be closed down.

The ASC, however, promptly responded yesterday, saying the banks must continue to freeze the assets of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family, even though the agency will cease to exist at the end of this month.

The ASC was responding to inquiries from Siam Commercial Bank and Siam City Bank, which are among the commercial banks which have kept the 65-billion-baht in assets frozen.

The banks contacted the ASC on Thursday after lawyers representing Mr Thaksin's younger sister Yingluck, his brother-in-law Bannapot Damapong and his children Panthongtae and Pinthongta told the banks to free the money in accordance with the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) law, applied by the ASC.

The family claims the order to freeze the assets has expired, based on the NCCC law, which states that frozen assets must be freed if it fails to conclude the cases in court in one year. The time is up. Also, according to a statement from the lawyers sent to the banks, the ASC's tenure is due to end soon.

ASC member and spokesman Sak Korsaengruang said yesterday the assets freeze must continue in line with the 30th announcement of the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR) formed after the coup that toppled the Thaksin government in September 2006.

The announcement authorises the ASC to freeze wealth that was suspected to have been acquired illegally.

''Although the agency [ASC] will no longer exist after the end of this month, the CDR announcement authorises the NCCC to take over the corruption investigations of the ASC as well as the assets freeze,'' he said.

Mr Sak said the ASC saw no reason to cancel the order to freeze the assets.

In its investigation, the ASC found there were grounds to allegations of corruption, including cases of unusual wealth and improper wealth acquisitions that came while the Thaksin administration was in office.

Many cases have been processed in the judicial system and more are waiting to be forwarded by the Office of the Attorney-General to the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions to seek court orders to transfer the wealth to government coffers, Mr Sak said.

The ASC also yesterday filed a complaint with the Attorney-General's Office against former transport minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit for allegedly rigging bids in the procurement of electricity cables for Suvarnabhumi airport.

Other suspects named in the same complaint are former transport permanent secretary Srisook Chandrangsu and 19 others related to the project.

Deputy auditor-general Pisit Leelawachiropas, who heads the ASC subcommittee handling the power cable case, submitted the complaint along with two boxes of evidence, including samples of the cables at the centre of the complaint.

The ASC accused Mr Suriya of malfeasance under the Criminal Code's Article 157.

The committee also accused Mr Srisook, who is also a former chairman of the New Bangkok International Airport Co and Airports of Thailand Plc, and 19 others involved in the design, median price setting, production and supply of the power cables and pipelines, of violating Articles 152, 341 and 83 of the Criminal Code and Articles 5, 7, 10 and 11 of the law governing quotations with state agencies. The law deals with price collusion in bidding contests.

It has been reported that the specifications of the 1.8-billion-baht electricity cable project had been changed only a day before the bidding contest and that this subsequently left only one contender qualified to take on the project.

The prosecution will consider the complaint in 30 days.

Driving a hard bargain

Bangkok Post - A key representative of the inter-provincial private bus operators has threatened to lay siege to the Transport Ministry later this month if it fails to respond positively to their demands for a new fare hike.

Suchinda Cherdchai, president of the Association of Inter-provincial Bus Operators, met Transport Minister Santi Prompat yesterday to informally discuss the latest demand that calls for another increase of nine satang per kilometre.

The government has also been urged to suspend for six months the payment of the trip-based fee bus operators are required to make to the state-owned Transport Co, and to reduce the frequency of daily bus trips, which would help them cut operating costs.

Now bus operators must pay a trip fee for every bus operating in their fleet. The fee amounts to the ticket price of one seat on each bus.

Mrs Suchinda said yesterday that she told the minister the bus operators would officially file their new demand at 2pm on Tuesday. If the minister fails to help them, they will park their buses and seal off the entrance to the ministry on Ratchadamnoen avenue.

She said at present fuel costs alone averaged 3,500 baht a trip, but the collected bus fares amount to only 3,200 baht a trip.

"The big problem is the fuel cost. On top of that operators must also pay the trip-based fee to the Transport Co. On some trips, there are only six passengers. I would like to propose the temporary suspension of the fee. Operators cannot shoulder too many costs. They are dying," she said.

In another development, Chairat Sa-nguansue, the acting director-general of the Land Transport Department, said yesterday the new metered taxi fare rate should take effect by next week as officials have almost completed certifying the adjustments.

The new rate demands a minimum fare of 40 baht, instead of 35, for the first two kilometres and a higher progressive fare for longer journeys.

However, Mr Santi said yesterday that he still disagrees with the 40-baht minimum fare.

Authorities in Surat Thani province yesterday approved another fare rise, which will take effect in two months, for ferries going between Don Sak district, Koh Samui island and Koh Phangan island.

Surat Thani deputy governor Damri Boonjing said that for a trip to Koh Samui a passenger will be charged 150 baht, 20 baht more, under the new rates and a four-wheeler 420 baht, an increase of 60 baht.

For a trip to Koh Phangan, a passenger will have to pay 280 baht, 60 baht more, and a four-wheeler 800 baht, or 180 baht more.

The new fares will be charged from July 1.

The northeastern people's assembly said yesterday the group would rally in Bangkok on Tuesday if the government continues to ignore its demand and refuses to come up with relief measures to help its members cope with the higher cost of living, said Choochat Chornsawat, an assembly leader.

Mr Choochat said his group will wait for the government's response on their four-point demand for another five days.