BANGKOK, June 23 — The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) discussed transport projects with the Ministry of Transport to be funded with the 2015 budget.
The delegation of Air Force chief ACM Prajin Juntong who supervises economic affairs for the NCPO considered transport projects in a meeting with senior executives of the ministry including Somchai Siriwatanachoke, permanent secretary for transport.
The Ministry of Transport will seek Bt300 billion from the national budget for the 2015 fiscal year.
The sum includes the planned spending of transport-related state enterprises.
About 60-70 per cent of the sum will be for fixed expenses and the rest will be investment.
Urgent projects include expanding main national highways to facilitate traffic flow and boosting road safety.
Another project is land expropriation for the construction of double-track railways of the State Railway of Thailand.
From 2015 to 2022 the Ministry of Transport will implement railway projects and public transit projects in Bangkok and nearby provinces as well as road, water and air transport projects.
Meanwhile, Kannikar Chalitaporn, president of Siam Commercial Bank, commented that the Thai economy would improve in the second half of this year as the national situation is returning to normal and operators could conduct their businesses normally.
She advised the NCPO to quickly strengthen Thailand’s economic fundamentals to ensure long-term growth.
Regarding the planned Bt3 trillion investment in infrastructure, she said that authorities’ right choices of projects would boost the Thai economic expansion and be beneficial to the national interest.
