Bangkok—
On March 5th, 2024, Mr. Suriya Juangroongruangkit, the Thai Minister of Transport, publicly revealed a delayed construction on Rama 2 Road, citing the issues discussed with 16 construction contractors on March 4th.
After the discussion, two main points caused the delay in road construction, according to Suriya. First, the contractors could not operate the 24-hour construction as Thai highway officials were concerned about traffic congestion during the daytime.
To alleviate the problems, Suriya issued an order to Thai highway officials and traffic police to facilitate traffic during the daytime construction.
As for the second point, the contractors were negatively affected by COVID-19, causing them to lack liquidity. Suriya conferred them to list loan contracts from financial institutions and relevant agencies would proceed further with financial institutions.
Furthermore, Suriya stated that after the discussion, if those who failed to finish the tasks according to the contract, they would be listed on the blacklist or be demoted.
Being on the list or being demoted, especially in a special grade, could make the contractors less reliable and could not take on big projects in the future, according to Suriya.
The Thai highway officials were ordered to make lists of each contractor if they caused any delayed constructions or accidents on construction sites by using a merit-scored system, said Suriya.
The Rama 2 Road construction must be completed in June 2025. In case of any delayed construction not in accordance with the contract, the Thai government would revoke the contract with them, remarked Suriya.
