Privatization of the Port Authority of Thailand hits brick wall - again

Fresh from the successful management shake-up at Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited during October (see last week's article), Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit last week turned his attention to the Port Authority of Thailand (PAT) and promptly hit a brick wall - at least for now. Successive Thai governments have tried to reform the PAT in order to uproot corruption, improve efficiency and prepare this highly profitable state enterprise for eventual privatization. Yet to date all of these attempts to reform the PAT have failed, and in the short-term the Thaksin government appears headed for the same outcome.