In a bid to honour its 100-billion-baht debt, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) plans to seek help from city bus commuters.
The loss-ridden agency wants to raise bus fares by as much as 30% but as such a hike will be too burdensome for low-income earners the State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) must tread carefully in reviewing the proposal next Friday.
Most commuters who rely on buses in Bangkok are already being hit the hardest by the subdued state of the economy and they often struggle to make ends meet.
Sepo needs to come up with a strong justification if it decides to approve the BMTA's plan to force them to pay more for the same commute.
BMTA president Nuttachat Charuchinda made it clear on Tuesday his agency was looking to raise the fares to cover its longstanding debt.
Mr Nuttachat, a former COO of the downstream business at PTT Plc, justified his plan by saying the BMTA's buses are in no way inferior to those operated by private companies yet their fares are cheaper (starting from 6.50 baht vis-a-vis 8.50 baht).
His fare hike proposal comes as another former PTT big gun in the form of Deputy Transport Minister Pailin Chuchottaworn asked the agency to find ways of honouring its debt obligations.
Similar instructions were given to other state enterprises such as Thai Airways International Plc (THAI) and the State Railway of Thailand (SRT).
The problem is that both THAI and the SRT are loaded with valuable assets and cater to more affluent members of society, whereas the BMTA targets those who cannot afford to add yet another car to Bangkok's congested roads.
The majority of bus commuters live hand to mouth and don't have access to enough capital to buy a car now or in the foreseeable future. Most subsist on the minimum wage (310 baht) or a nominally higher salary.
Under the proposed plan, a single return trip anywhere in the city could equate to 5% of their daily wage.
God forbid they require a connecting bus to reach their destination, which would double this outlay just to get to their destination and then back home again.
This would make it incredibly hard for these people on the bottom rungs of society to manage their household income.
Many already struggle to find the resources to cover three meals a day for their family, not to mention other expenses like housing, clothing and utilities, let alone entertainment.
Bumping up the cost of public transport -- surely an inalienable right of the poverty stricken -- may prove the straw that breaks the camel's back, leaving them financially shorthanded to cope with even their most basic of needs.
Apart from honouring its debt, the BMTA has no other excuse to raise the fares. Rising oil prices have abated in recent years, with prices nearly 35% below where they were a decade earlier. Meanwhile, inflation has risen by just 1.88% a year over the same period. On top of that, the BMTA's bus fleet is rapidly greying at some 20 years old.
Even though the government's welfare cards for 13 million impoverished members of society include a monthly bus subsidy of 500 baht, only 800 of the BMTA's 2,600 city buses are equipped with card-reading machines to facilitate their use.
While high-level officials such as Mr Nuttachat sit back at work and enjoy all the modern facilities a government office can provide, they may be losing touch with "the common man".
Passing the BMTA's debt burden on to those just above the poverty line is inexcusable.
