The Cabinet approved canceling the 3.5 billion baht new Ministry of Transport building project, switching instead to a leasing plan, and reducing the budget allocated for addressing the energy crisis and living costs impact.
On 15 Sep 2026 GMT+7, Ms. Ploytale Laksamisangchan, Deputy Spokesperson of the Prime Minister's Office, stated that the Cabinet resolved to review and revoke its previous resolution dated 14 Oct 2025 GMT+7, which had approved multi-year budget commitments for fiscal year 2026. Specifically, the cancellation concerns the construction costs and construction supervision costs of the new Ministry of Transport headquarters project (budget commitments for 2026–2028), as proposed by the Ministry of Transport. The ministry will consider recommendations from the National Economic and Social Development Council for further action. This will be reported to the Cabinet for acknowledgement; if there are no objections or alternative opinions, it will stand as the Cabinet's decision as proposed.
Ms. Ploytale explained that the Ministry of Transport's Office of the Permanent Secretary had been allocated a budget for fiscal year 2026 under the basic competitiveness enhancement plan, including investment in land and buildings. The construction budget for the project was 3,448.80 million baht, with 103.46 million baht for construction supervision, scheduled for 2026–2028. However, due to the Middle East regional conflict severely impacting global energy security and stability, especially for Thailand which heavily relies on energy imports, the country faces increased energy and production costs.
This situation has forced businesses to pass on higher costs to goods and services prices, affecting household living expenses, as well as production inputs in agriculture and industry, leading to damage to the country's economic and social systems. It is a critical crisis requiring urgent and continuous government measures, including aid to citizens, farmers, and businesses affected by the energy crisis. Moreover, for the 2027 budget planning, the Prime Minister has directed agencies to delay new office building constructions and focus on leasing space. Accordingly, the Ministry of Transport has adopted this government policy by canceling the construction and construction supervision projects.
Ms. Ploytale further stated that to maintain the Ministry of Transport's mission in advancing government transport and logistics policies efficiently, the ministry needs to increase staff and modern equipment, as well as expand current office space to fully support the operations of affiliated agencies, the Office of the Permanent Secretary, and the Minister's Office. Following the Cabinet's cancellation of the construction and supervision budget items, in the short term, the ministry will urgently lease buildings for temporary office use. In the long term, the ministry will change the project’s design, which has already been completed, to a leasing model instead, entrusting the relevant agency responsible for real estate development to implement this plan.