MP Natthapong from the People’s Party calls on Governor Chatchat to halt signing the 9.5 billion baht Bueng Nong Bon water tunnel contract, fearing the contractor’s bankruptcy could cause work abandonment and worsen the flooding crisis in eastern Bangkok.
On 4 Oct 2026, Mr. Natthapong Prempoolsawasdi, MP for Bangkok’s 21st district (Prawet-Saphan Sung) from the People’s Party, urged Bangkok Governor Chatchat Sitthiphon to clarify the 9.561 billion baht Bueng Nong Bon water tunnel extension project from Klong Prawet Burirom to Klong Si. He highlighted that the contractor likely to win the bid is facing severe liquidity problems, with a central bankruptcy court ordering it into a rehabilitation plan.
Mr. Natthapong said that daily field visits to monitor flooding revealed Klong Prawet Burirom’s drainage efficiency is currently insufficient and the slowest in Bangkok. Although the first phase of the Bueng Nong Bon tunnel is complete, water transfer from Klong Prawet is minimal because it must pass through smaller canals like Klong Nong Bon and Klong Makham Thet, leaving Bueng Nong Bon’s 5 million cubic meter capacity underutilized during crises.
He added he supports moving forward with the extension project to transfer more water faster from Klong Prawet to Bueng Nong Bon. However, the main issue is that the lowest bidder, likely to win, is a company under a rehabilitation plan. Moreover, this same company is handling several Bangkok Drainage Department projects, including the Klong Prem Prachakorn and Klong Thawi Watthana tunnels, which are already over 30% behind schedule. Allowing a financially troubled company to take on this major project risks abandonment, potentially delaying the project by decades since finding a new contractor to fix unfinished work is extremely difficult.
Mr. Natthapong proposed that Bangkok authorities consider exercising their power under announcement clause 6.5, allowing the evaluation committee or the city to summon bidders to explain their financial status and reject proposals or contracts if deemed unsuitable, thus minimizing risks of project disruption.
He also said he previously questioned the Bangkok Drainage Department about this issue, but their representatives told the parliamentary budget management committee they had not yet acted on it. He has already raised this concern in parliament last month and plans to bring it again to the budget oversight committee this week to seek a swift resolution.
In addition, he called on the Comptroller General’s Department to clarify the qualification criteria regarding whether companies under rehabilitation plans remain eligible for large-scale government contracts.
“I use this opportunity to urge Governor Chatchat to decisively use Bangkok’s authority under announcement clause 6.5 to ensure this ten-billion-baht project proceeds smoothly and promptly, so that residents of eastern Bangkok will not have to suffer severe flooding again in the coming years,” he said. . Natthapong concluded.