Sino-Thai hints it may sue Sorasak

The contractor of the new 12-billion-baht parliament complex may sue the secretarygeneral of the House of Representatives over statements he made which they allege could damage the company’s reputation.

Executives of Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction Plc have denied claims by Sorasak Pienvej that the company changed the layout of the new parliament’s underground car park in violation of a City Hall ordnance which requires parking to be proportional to the size of a building.

Peera Nakwimol, Sino-Thai’s director of the project, said the whole complex, including the car park, was designed by another company while Sino-Thai was only responsible for carrying out construction in accordance with the design.

Mr Peera said that Sa-ngob 1051 Joint Venture was contracted to design the complex occupying more than 300,000 square metres of usable space with parking space to accommodate 1,800 vehicles.

But when the design was finished, the complex’s usable space increased to 500,000 sq m, which meant more parking space was required to meet City Hall’s requirements, Mr Peera said.

Pakpoom Srichamni, Sino-Thai’s president, said Sino-Thai had not made any changes to the designers’ layout of the new parliament complex.

He said that if the comments made by the secretary-general of the House of Representatives were found to have caused any damage to the company, the company may consider pursuing a lawsuit.

Mr Sorasak yesterday apologised for giving incorrect information, and also said that the Secretariat of the House of Representatives will not change the design, but will find ways to solve the problem such as leasing parking space at nearby buildings.

Mr Sorasak previously said the structure of the new complex was about 98% complete with the interior decoration at 20%.

Suchart Rojthongkham, deputy secretary-general of the House of Representatives and chairman of a committee overseeing the project, said that the Secretariat and City Hall will discuss ways around the problem before the new parliament complex opens.

Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction Plc was hired in 2013 as the contractor for the 12-billion-baht project, which has experienced repeated delays.

Pinij Poolkerd, a manager at the project’s construction consultant, previously said the initial construction contract envisaged the complex being built between June 8, 2013 and Nov 24, 2015.