Under the terms of the Thai constitution, Section 44 gives the prime-minister the authority to act in the best interests of the country. The PM told reporters he was using his special ministerial powers to get the long stalled project off the ground because it seemed to have become stuck in a legal quagmire.
The PM continued by saying he hoped the Thai people would understand why it was necessary to use Section 44 in this case. He finished off by saying his administration had vowed to improve the country’s infrastructure and sometimes Section 44 was the only tool available to ensure this actually happened.
Thailand’s railway network is made up of four long-distance intercity routes and a number of shorter ones around Bangkok. 12GO ASIA says the new Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima high-speed route will cut current journey times of four hours plus in half.
Thai prime minister resorts to S44 to get train project back on track
News in Asia
The prime-minister of Thailand says he plans to use Section 44 powers to kick-start a project to build a high-speed railway line. Prayut Chan-o-cha told reporters at a media briefing yesterday he would be invoking Section 44 to get the Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima project back on track.