By KUNA,
Kuala Lumpur : Senior railways executives are negotiating with representatives of Thailand’s striking railway workers Saturday, in an attempt settle problems that caused the kingdom’s passenger and cargo services to virtually halt.
Losses in daily revenue have been reported to be in the region of Bt20 million (about USD 584,795).
Thai News Agency (TNA) in Bangkok said the State Railways of Thailand (SRT) services nationwide had been disrupted with many services suspended altogether, for the second day, due to the absence of hundreds of state employees who had taken sick leave.
It said 76 rail services were discontinued by SRT, forcing would-be travelers to return advance booking rail tickets, and paralysing railway cargo transport.
TNA added that long distance rail services, especially to the south, were completely stopped, with trains from Bangkok serving only Hua Hin resort in Prachuap Khiri Khan.
Services from Bangkok to the northeast served only Nakhon Ratchasima, while services to the north were canceled, the news agency said.
SRT labour union members were reported to have begun their work stoppage, citing that they needed to take sick leave.
However, state railways governor Youdtana Tupcharoen said the union also made demands unrelated to the current political troubles that include asking the government to help resolve the heavy debts suffered by the railroad.
The rail workers claimed that these problems have been left unresolved for several years.
This comes as a time when the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protests are heating up as the so-called democracy activists demand that the coalition government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej step down.