View Full Version : MakkasanTunnel BribeCase
As mentioned frontpage:
Bangkok’s underground drainage tunnel will be opened in September next year (http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=184892) - Thaisnews, 25 August 2006
Bangkok's underground drainage tunnel being built as part of a long-term flood prevention plan will be opened in September next year.
Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin (อภิรักษ์ โกษะโยธิน) said the tunnel, which is 35 metres deep into the ground, will drain water from Makkasan pond into the Chao Phraya river. Construction costs about two billion baht, Mr. Apirak said.
He said the tunnel will help prevent flooding in the inner city and several main roads because it has the capacity to pump 45 million cubic meters of water per second.Huh?
So have they started construction of this marvel yet? Don't think so. We would have noticed.
Wonderful nonsense.... "45 million cubic meters per second". Another case of journalists who don't use their brains.
Just imagine that! That's a cube with a length of 355m - higher than the Baiyoke Tower. I'd like to see the pump needed to accomplish this performance; but rather don't want to imagine the effect of sucking that amount of liquid out of Bangkok in a single second. :eek:
35m under ground? Doesn't sound realistic, either. Or at least it would also mean a huge amount of energy would be needed to lift the water up again... :confused:
Bangkok Governor inspects Phra Khanong pumping station
Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin (อภิรักษ์ โกษะโยธิน) inspects the Phra Khanong (พระโขนง) pumping station as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has reported that the present accumulative rainfall already passed that of the previous year.
The Phra Khanong pumping station has the highest capacity in Bangkok or 173 cubic meters per second. It releases water from 11 districts in the eastern Bangkok which is submerged every year. 37 from 51 feed pumps of the station are operating to release the accumulative rainfall of 1,345 millimeters, higher than last year’s annual rainfall of 1,340 millimeters.
However, the Governor says the water levels of all canals in the capital have yet reached a critical point. He expresses his confidence that flooding this year in Bangkok will not be caused by water from the Northern region and high tide, but by heavy rain. According to the Governor, if rainfall exceeds the amount of 60 - 100 millimeters per hour, the BMA will not be able to release the water in time.
At present, the water level of the Saen Saeb (แสนแสบ) Canal is 80 centimeters beyond a controllable level.
Yesterday (September 21st), the BMA has tried releasing water to the newly constructed Makkasan (มักกะสัน) diversion tunnel before it officially operates on September 24th. The BMA expects that the tunnel will help prevent flooding in the inner Bangkok.
Mr. Apirak has also instructed officials to collect garbage and water hyacinth in canals across Bangkok and encouraged people not to littering in drainage channels.
Reporter : RTI-Reporter04
http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews.php?news_id=255009210062
Compare with Kuala Lumpur's SMART Tunnel:
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showthread.php?t=2387
BMA CORRUPTION CLAIM
Japanese firm 'paid bribes'
By The Nation
Published on July 8, 2008
Thai officials took Bt125m, says executive
A former executive of Nishimatsu Construction has told Japanese prosecutors that the Japanese firm had paid ฅ400 million (Bt125 million) to Thai government officials in return for "favours" connected to the award of a Bt2-billion tunnel project in 2003, said sources familiar with the matter.
Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin yesterday said city clerk Pongsak Semsan would ask the Japanese Embassy in Bangkok to forward a document related to the allegation to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).
It was reported that the former executive of Nishimatsu Construction was being investigated by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on suspicion of violating the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act for bringing in ฅ100 million from abroad without reporting it to customs.
The consortium of Italian-Thai and Nishimatsu won the Bt2-billion contract from BMA in 2003, when Samak Sundaravej, who is now prime minister, was the governor of Bangkok.
The project included construction of large tunnels along the San Saeb and Lat Phrao canals as part of a BMA flood-management system for the city.
Besides the consortium of Italian-Thai and Nishimatsu, the BMA project attracted other bidders, namely Naowarat Pattanakarn, Si Saeng Construction and Ch Karnchang.
Citing sources, Kyodo News reported that local staff of Nishimatsu in Thailand had prepared bribes after consulting executives of Nishimatsu's Thai partner.
The payments were apparently made to Thai government officials and officials in charge of overseeing bids for the project immediately before and after the project was awarded.
The former Nishimatsu executive said he was not directly involved in bribing the officials but that "in return for favours to secure the tunnel-construction project, the company paid a total of more than ฅ400 million to Thai government officials", the sources said.
"Such operational funds were necessary in order to be awarded public-works projects in Thailand," he was quoted as saying.
The prosecutors searched Nishimatsu's head office in Tokyo's Minato Ward early last month in connection with the former executive's suspected violation of the foreign-exchange law.
The prosecutor suspected the ฅ100 million he brought into Japan was part of a slush fund.
The prosecutors are also conducting investigations into Pacific Consultants Inter-national, a major Japanese construction consultancy, in connection with a case of suspected bribery in Vietnam related to a project funded by official development assistance from the Japanese government.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/07/08/headlines/headlines_30077518.php
"Finding a receipt in Bt125 million bribery allegation not easy"
Deputy Bangkok City Clerk Somsak Klanpoj said on Tuesday that he would seek information from the Foreign Ministry and the Japanese Embassy concerning the Bt125 million bribery allegation in the water tunnel project that took place when Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was Bangkok governor.
Somsak said he felt that it was not easy to dig for the truth or evidence since it happened long ago. He compares the case to the CTX bomb detectors case that the bribery allegation emerged in the United States.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/07/08/politics/politics_30077581.php
Samak denies irregularities in BMA flood-easing tunnel project
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej Sunday denied that there were irregularities in a flood-easing tunnel project commenced when he was governor of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
He was reacting to reports that an executive of a Japanese construction firm had admitted to Japanese prosecutor that he had paid a bribe to Thai officials in return for favours connected to the tunnel project.
Samak said he did not explain the issue during the week because he did not trust the Thai media so he waited to give the explanation during his live talk programme.
He said the project had been ruled by the Administrative Court as being transparent after a Thai construction firm sued the BMA and Japanese firm as violating the law against collusion to win government's projects.
Samak said the BMA also managed to negotiate for reduction of the construction cost so there were no bribery in the project.
The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30077952
'No irregularity' in BMA water-tunnel project
By Jeerawan Prasomsap
THE NATION
Published on July 14, 2008
A probe into an alleged Bt125-million bribe for a Bangkok Metropolitan Administration water-tunnel project found "nothing irregular", Deputy Bangkok City Clerk Somsak Klanpoj said yesterday.
Somsak said he had handed an investigative report by director of drainage and sewerage department Charnchai Pithoonpanyakit to Bangkok City Clerk Pongsak Semsan.
Related information from bribery investigation in Japan had not yet been delivered The BMA will request such information from the Japanese Embassy and the Foreign Ministry again in a week's time, Somsak said.
A former executive of Nishimatsu Construction is being investigated by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors.
He had admitted to a Japanese prosecutor that he had paid a bribe to Thai officials in return for favours connected to the awarding of a Bt2-billion tunnel project in 2003.
The Bangkok governor at that time was Samak Sundaravej.
Meanwhile, Thai Nishimatsu Construction, a subsidiary of the Nishimatsu Construction, reported its account audit, saying it did not receive such money from its headquarters in Japan.
It doubted whether the testimony of the Japanese executive to Japanese attorneys was correct, Somsak said. He said the hint of initials of names of three people involved could be a hoax.
The investigative panel would not investigate the issue as there was no ground nor witness. Pongsak said he would tomorrow report about the investigation to Apirak.
At the moment he could not say whether the allegation was true.
Prime Minister Samak said in his weekly programme yesterday there were other corruption allegations in BMA's projects during the term of other Bangkok governors but they had not been investigated.
Samak said while the tunnel project used baht funds not the yen curency, it had been "unreasonably linked" to the bribery, which was reported in yen.
The allegation in this case was blown up as some people hated him and wanted to attack him and his People Power Party, he said. See Saeng Karnyotha (1979) Co had formerly filed a complaint of bid collusion against the project, Samak said.
Among three bidders, the winning bid was for Bt2.155 billion while the budget was set at Bt2.178 billion.
The cost was negotiated down later by Bt83 million. Therefore, the bid collusion charge did not make sense, he said.
He slammed Democrat assistant secretary-general Thepthai Senpong for criticising him over the case.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/07/14/national/national_30078012.php
DSI to investigate the BMA bribery allegation
Department of Special Investigation (DSI) direcotr-general Pol Col Thawee Sodsong said on Monday he had approved the Special Criminal Litigation Division proposal to launch an initial investigation into the bribery allegation surrounding a Bt2-billion flood-easing tunnel project in 2003 during which Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was then Bangkok governor.
DSI deputy director-general Tharit Pengdit will head the fact-finding panel to probe the allegation. Tharit said the panel would have the right to officially launch an investigation only after the Special Litigation Commitee rules to accept the case as a special case since the incident happened before the DSI Act took effect.
Bangkok City Clerk Pongsak Semsan will on Monday report the Bangkok City Council on whether there were any irregularities in the project.
Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayothin last week ordered officials to probe the bribery allegation after former executive of Nishimatsu Construction has told Japanese prosecutors that the Japanese firm had paid 400 million yens (Bt125 million) to Thai government officials in return for awarding the water tunnel project.
Deputy Bangkok City Clerk Somsak Klanpoj said he found that the project was carried out in accordance to law but he has yet to receive information from the Japanese Embassy and the Foreign Ministry.
Samak on Sunday denied that there were irregularities in the project saying the Administrative Court had ruled that the project was transparent after a Thai construction firm sued the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and a Japanese firm as violating the law for collusion to win the government's project.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/07/14/politics/politics_30078026.php
See also today's previous 2 posts
Samak, Apirak to be summoned by House panel on bribery scandal
The House committee on counter corruption will summon Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin to testify over a Bt125million bribery scandal.
The scandal surrounds a Bt2billion tunnel-construction project, which was awarded by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) in 2003 at the time Samak was still the city governor.
"On behalf of the House committee, I will also fly to Japan before the end of this month to find out the truth," Democrat MP Chanchai Issarasenarak said in his capacity as the committee's vice chairman.
The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30078058
Bangkok Governor says reports show irregularities in drainage pipe auctioning
Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayothin and Permanent Secretary of Bangkok Pongsakti Saemsun (พงศ์ศักติฐ์ เสมสันต) held a press conference on the alleged bribery case of the Saen Sab Canal-Ladprao drainage pipe. :confused:;)The two revealed that they are preparing to forward the matter to the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) as it has the direct authority to investigate the matter. The Governor stated however, that initial reports showed no irregularities. Both affirmed that if investigations yielded no bribery scandal they would take civil action against the Japanese Company that incited the situation as it has been detrimental to Bangkok.
The Bangkok Administration is also continuing its communication with Japan for further information. This afternoon the Bangkok Permanent Secretary will meet with the NCCC.
http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews.php?news_id=255107160007
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