Restructuring for
the State Railway of Thailand?
Strike by
employees tries to halt
plans
By Jon Fernquest
The
cabinet earlier this month approved a restructuring
plan
proposed by
the State Railway of Thailand (SRT).In the plan the SRT plans to set up separate companies that will be responsible for different aspects of the SRT organisation such as the Airport Rail Link, the Red Line mass-transit system, and assets management.
The assets management company would have control over the vast landholdings of the state railway. The separation of land assets into this separate company is controversial.
The SRT has lost money since its inception in 1951.
Like the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) which runs Bangkok's buses, the SRT is hobbled by debt. SRT's overall debt now stands at 69 billion baht.
The employees oppose the SRT's plan to allow a private company to manage the operation.
The labour union had previously submitted a proposal to the SRT board on ways to improve organisation and solve debt problems.
One objection to the SRT plan is that privatisation of SRT operations would lead to higher fares.
The government only learned of the strike on Sunday night but plans for a strike have been brewing since the middle of the month (Read article).
Negotiations to end the strike will begin tommorrow.
(Photo on right of a train running along the Airport Rail Link between inner Bangkok and Suvarnabhumi airport, these trains are set to begin operation soon)
State Railway
Thailand (SRT) - the state-owned
rail operator of Thailand, การรถไฟแห่งประเทศไทย (See Wikipedia)
Airport Rail Link, Suvarnabhumi Airport Rail Link (SARL) - a rapid transit line, provided as an airport rail link from Suvarnabhumi Airport to a City Air Terminal at Makkasan and urban area of Bangkok, Thailand. Most of the line is on viaduct over the main Eastern Railway. It is owned and operated by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT)
รถไฟฟ้าเชื่อมท่าอากาศยานสุวรรณภูมิ, แอร์พอร์ตลิงก์ (See Wikipedia)
Red Line mass-transit system - a new rail line stretching 26km from Bang Sue in Bangkok to Rangsit in Pathum Thani, construction is being managed by SRT (Read recent Bangkok Post article about the construction of the red line)
restructure - to reorganize a company to make it work more efficiently
a restructuring plan - a plan to reorganize a company to make it run more efficiently
a strike - when the employees of a company in a labour union stop working because of a disagreement over pay or work conditions
a union, a labour union - an organization of workers that works to improve their pay and conditions of work
halt - stop
operations - the main money-making activities of a business such as manufacturing products, providing services, or buying and selling goods
assets management - a company that holds assets such as real estate, stocks, or bonds for other people or another company
vast - very large, of great size
land holdings - land that is owned by a person or a company
controversial - a topic that peeople disagree and argue about
X hobbled by Y - Y hinders X, Y makes it more difficult for X to achieve its goal
stands at - is the level of
inception - the beginning, the creation of something
submitted a proposal - give a plan about how things might be done in the future (to improve situation)
an objection - something that you oppose
privatisation - making a government owned company into a company owned by private stock holders
brewing - starting to develop
Airport Rail Link, Suvarnabhumi Airport Rail Link (SARL) - a rapid transit line, provided as an airport rail link from Suvarnabhumi Airport to a City Air Terminal at Makkasan and urban area of Bangkok, Thailand. Most of the line is on viaduct over the main Eastern Railway. It is owned and operated by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT)
รถไฟฟ้าเชื่อมท่าอากาศยานสุวรรณภูมิ, แอร์พอร์ตลิงก์ (See Wikipedia)
Red Line mass-transit system - a new rail line stretching 26km from Bang Sue in Bangkok to Rangsit in Pathum Thani, construction is being managed by SRT (Read recent Bangkok Post article about the construction of the red line)
restructure - to reorganize a company to make it work more efficiently
a restructuring plan - a plan to reorganize a company to make it run more efficiently
a strike - when the employees of a company in a labour union stop working because of a disagreement over pay or work conditions
a union, a labour union - an organization of workers that works to improve their pay and conditions of work
halt - stop
operations - the main money-making activities of a business such as manufacturing products, providing services, or buying and selling goods
assets management - a company that holds assets such as real estate, stocks, or bonds for other people or another company
vast - very large, of great size
land holdings - land that is owned by a person or a company
controversial - a topic that peeople disagree and argue about
X hobbled by Y - Y hinders X, Y makes it more difficult for X to achieve its goal
stands at - is the level of
inception - the beginning, the creation of something
submitted a proposal - give a plan about how things might be done in the future (to improve situation)
an objection - something that you oppose
privatisation - making a government owned company into a company owned by private stock holders
brewing - starting to develop
(Source #1: Bangkok Post, breaking news, Cabinet approves SRT makeover, BangkokPost.com, 3/06/2009, link)
(Source #2: Bangkok Post, Strike halts all SRT trains, BangkokPost.com, link)
