Thailand : New parliament to be built on Kiakkai site

[Mid]

New parliament to be building on Kiakkai site

(BangkokPost.com) - The cabinet approved the building of a new parliament at the 119-rai of land in Bangkok, which is owned by the military.

It also approved to set aside a budget of 2 billion baht for constructing of the new parliament in Kiakkai area.

The compound is owned by the Army Transportation Department, and is located near the Chao Phaya river.

The decision to move the parliament to a new location came after its present location on Uthong Nai road is subject to traffic congestion.

bangkokpost.com

[Mid]

Site for new Parliament may change to Saraburi
January 8, 2012

The new Parliament building may be relocated from Kiakkai Intersection in Bangkok to Saraburi after a delay in its construction, Deputy House Speaker Charoen Chankomol said Sunday.

Charoen told Nation TV that building of the new Parliament complex has been set back due to several obstacles.

Charoen said it was possible the House committee in charge of the construction would consider relocating the new Parliament during its meeting Monday - after a briefing on all the problems.

Charoen said he would propose the House committee select another location in Saraburi where a new highspeed train would be built so parliamentarians could travel easily and quickly to the new Parliament.

nationmultimedia.com

[hazz]

I believe they are knocking down a 60M baht library building they only completed a few years ago. But then probably the last thing they really want is anyone reading too many books... gives you all kinds of strange and unsuitable ideas.

And is this going to be a eurotunnle type hi speed train system where they just drive their merc into the carriage? otherwise I just don't see them doing it..... slumming with common people ewu

[Bettyboo]

Charoen said he would propose the House committee select another location in Saraburi where a new highspeed train would be built so parliamentarians could travel easily and quickly to the new Parliament.

And is this going to be a eurotunnle type hi speed train system where they just drive their merc into the carriage?

This sounds great; think how much damage could so easily be done to so many corrupt folk at one time!

[hazz]

^a likely outcome is they buy chinese train technology

[DroversDog]

Site for new Parliament may change to Saraburi
January 8, 2012

The new Parliament building may be relocated from Kiakkai Intersection in Bangkok to Saraburi after a delay in its construction, Deputy House Speaker Charoen Chankomol said Sunday.

Charoen told Nation TV that building of the new Parliament complex has been set back due to several obstacles.

Charoen said it was possible the House committee in charge of the construction would consider relocating the new Parliament during its meeting Monday - after a briefing on all the problems.

Charoen said he would propose the House committee select another location in Saraburi where a new highspeed train would be built so parliamentarians could travel easily and quickly to the new Parliament.

nationmultimedia.com

Why build a train. Just move the whole government to Saraburi. The army units in Lopburi would have less distance to travel to stage a coup.

[StrontiumDog]

Bangkok Post : House panel backs Kiakkai for parliament

House panel backs Kiakkai for parliament

• Published: 10/01/2012 at 12:00 AM
• Newspaper section: News

The house committee on parliamentary affairs disagrees with calls to build the new parliament building in Nonthaburi instead of Kiakkai.

House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranon and his deputy Charoen Chankomol said at the weekend the new parliament should be built in Nonthaburi.

They cited the potential for flooding, City Hall's new bridge project and possible irregularities in selecting contractors as reasons why the project should be moved to Nonthaburi's Pak Kret district.

The committee, however, said it saw no problem with building parliament at Kiakkai as proposed.

State and military agencies are ready to move from the area earmarked for the project, which covers 300,000 square metres of land by the Chao Phraya River.

Committee spokesman Boonyod Sukthinthai said possible flood threats could be averted by building a flood prevention system. The design of the city's new bridge project, which is close to the intended site, could be changed.

The cabinet approved a 15-billion-baht budget for the Kiakkai project last year.

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New parliament building to move to Saraburi : National News Bureau of Thailand


New parliament building to move to Saraburi

BANGKOK, 9 January 2012 (NNT) – The new parliament building may be relocated to Saraburi province since the originally planned location in Kiak Kai risks future flooding, said Deputy House Speaker.

Deputy House Speaker Charoen Chankomol, also in charge of heading the House committee on the construction project of the new parliament building, has revealed that the committee has agreed to find a new location for the new parliament after the Kiak Kai area in Nonthaburi province is vulnerable to repetitive flooding. Although engineers have confirmed that a strong flood prevention system has been designed for the new complex, there would certainly be a problem in commuting to and from the Parliament if the surrounding areas were flooded.

Presently, the Kiak Kai area is still occupied by other government agencies and it would take at least 3-5 months for them to relocate. Meanwhile, the flood crisis has also set construction plans back by a year. However, he stated that the expropriation of the area will be continued, as the land is now considered property of the parliament, which may be used for other purposes. Furthermore, there is currently a bridge construction nearby the parliament building site, thus, raising concerns about the safety of parliament members and visitors.

As for the reason why Saraburi has been taken into consideration, Mr. Charoen stated that the government has future plans to build a high-speed railway system between Bangkok and Nakorn Ratchasima which will facilitate traveling to and from the area. Additionally, he insisted that the new land must not be acquired through purchase in order to prevent accusations of corruption.

[sabang]

Any future oriented urban planning surely needs to take into account the fact that Bangkok, a flood plain & river delta, needs to be decongested to perform it's drainage role for the Chao Praya basin. To do otherwise is just asking for trouble. Self interested 'Parliamentary Committees' should be removed from the deliberations, and professional Consultants employed. But of course, TIT.

[StrontiumDog]

Bangkok Post : Somsak downplays relocation suggestion

Somsak downplays relocation suggestion

• Published: 19/01/2012 at 12:00 AM
• Newspaper section: News

House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranon has downplayed a suggestion by the parliamentary committee monitoring the construction of the new parliament complex that it should be built in Saraburi instead of Bangkok's Kiakkai area.


Empty land in the Kiakkai area of the capital that is expected to be a part of thenewparliament complex.Suggestions have been floated recently to relocate the site of thenew complex to Saraburi. CHANATKATANYU

"The reasons given for the change, concerning the site's susceptibility to floods, and a delay in the process of handing over the site to parliament are insufficient," Mr Somsak said yesterday.

The committee led by Charoen Chankomol, a deputy House speaker, planned to propose to Mr Somsak that he consider choosing a plot of state land in Saraburi as the site of the new parliament over the land in the Kiakkai area.

The panel cited security, flooding, and a delay in the land expropriation process in Kiakkai as key reasons to back their suggestion.

Mr Somsak responded yesterday by saying it was not so easy to change the site to Saraburi.

"To make such a change requires a very special reason," Mr Somsak said.

Delays in the expropriation process could be enough to prompt parliament to consider relocating the complex.

"If we cannot complete construction in two years, then we should consider relocation," he said.

Mr Somsak said parliament would then be asked to consider choosing a new site.

However, Mr Somsak said he believed the land expropriation could be completed by the end of this year.

Democrat Party list MP Chamni Sakdiset said he was concerned about Mr Charoen's suggestion to relocate to Saraburi. He said it could confuse the public.

Parliament should concentrate on building the complex on the Kiakkai site selected earlier, Mr Chamni said.

[StrontiumDog]

Thai-ASEAN News Network - The New Parliament

The New Parliament’s Ceaseless Trouble

UPDATE : 17 February 2012



After a several administrations, the construction of Sappaya-Saphasathana (translation: a place to conduct good deeds), the new Parliament building worth 20 billion baht. The new building is scheduled to span over a 119 rai plot of land situated by the Chao Phraya River in Dusit District of Bangkok. The ceremony to mark the commencement of the construction took place on August 12, 2010.

However now it seems as if the construction has already hit a snag, putting the whole project in jeopardy.

The committee overseeing the construction of the new Parliament building has urged for the project to be relocated due to a delay in the land expropriation process. Moreover, many are concerned about the potential of floods, security and traffic problems surround the site.

Some have also questioned the transparency in the construction bidding process as contractors’ pre-qualification selection has already begun despite the fact that the final blueprint has yet to be approved.

The last point has been widely criticized as some of the bid winners are construction companies with strong ties to a member of the previous coalition government led by then Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Because of this, the Opposition is condeming the call to change the construction site, claiming that such an action will cost the state seven billion baht since the amount has already been disbursed among the related agencies.

It looks like the oversight committee is looking for a reason to cancel the project rather than to expedite it.

Even though House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont has reaffirmed that the project will move forward as planned, he has given a cool-off period of two to three months for all sides to review the facts and decided whether the site should be moved. It is now up to the honorable lawmakers to address the issue before the taxpayers are forced to pay for this mishap.

Taken from Editorial Section, Dailynews, Page 3, February 17, 2012
Translated and Rewritten by Kongkrai Maksrivorawan

[Thetyim]

^
Who designed it, the egg marketing board ?

[hazz]

^I guess the eggs are representations of tree's they are going to put on the building.

It does seem rather expensive and inappropriately named building, then it is following that find tradition of saying is as good as doing.

[Gerbil]

It looks fucking ghastly.

I suspect the interior will be all red carpets, cheap wood paneling and gold lacquered furniture.

[Mid]

Chao Phraya River

many are concerned about the potential of floods,

ya think

[Bettyboo]

Most inappropriately positioned by the abhisit puppet government on military land at massively inflated cost... It should be stopped.

[hazz]

^As I understand it most of the land that the military have in bangkok belongs to the crown property bureau for which they pay a pepper corn rate of a few baht per year per rai.
I believe that quite a bit of this site was/is a school and using it will involves distorting a library billing they rather expensively built a few years ago. That they are having issues securing the ownership of the wholes site does also suggest that the land has/had a rather diffuse ownership