The move came after the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) held a meeting on Friday to revise the projects’ specifications following an order invoked by junta chief Prayut Chan-o-cha after he received numerous complaints about the projects’ lack of transparency for bidding and procurement.

Anon Luangboriboon, recently appointed acting SRT governor, said before the meeting that the board would revise the projects’ terms of reference.

He said the revisions would be submitted to the super-board recently set up under the Article 44 of the interim charter to scrutinise procurement at state agencies, starting with the double-track rail projects.

The super-board, chaired by former Bank of Thailand governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul, also met on Friday.

‘The [ToR] guideline that was proposed by the SRT today [Friday] is still an alternative,” said Prasarn after the meeting.

He added: “It needs to have a conclusion and the best option. The next meeting is set to be held next Friday to find a solution.”  Prasarn said companies that had submitted their bidding documents for the projects would have to wait until the matter was resolved.

The five projects are the 132-kilometre Map Kabao-Jira Junction section (Bt29.45 billion); the 116-km Lop Buri-Pak Nam Pho section (Bt23.9 billion); the 169-km Nakhon Pathom-Hua Hin section (Bt19.27 billion); the 84-km Hua Hin-Prachuap Khiri Khan (Bt9.99 billion); and the 167-km Pachuap Khiri Khan-Chumphon section (Bt16.5 billion).

The SRT had been set to announce the names of the companies that had qualified for bidding.

Two other double-track rail projects – the Jira Junction-Khon Kaen and the Chachoengsao-Kaeng Khoi sections – are also being closely monitored by the superboard.

Prasarn said the two projects’ construction works would, at this stage, continue pending the findings of an investigative subcommittee.

On February 23, Prime Minister Prayut exercised his overriding powers via Article 44 of the interim charter on the grounds that he had received many complaints about a lack of transparency in the SRT’s bidding and procurement processes.

He ordered the transfer of SRT governor Wutthichat Kalayanamit and the agency’s entire board in response to alleged irregularities.

A new board of directors was formed, with Voravidh Champeeratana, chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission, appointed as the new chairman.

Anon, deputy director general of the Highways Department, was appointed acting SRT governor.

Wutthichat was transferred to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Under Article 44, the super-board was set up to consider the procurement for infrastructure projects worth more than Bt5 billion.