Thailand must pay for pipeline delays

Thailand must pay for pipeline delays

YANGON (AFP): Thailand must pay thousands of dollars a day in
compensation if the launch of a disputed gas pipeline linking
Myanmar and Thailand is delayed by Thai protesters, officials
said here yesterday.

The comments came after demonstrators in western Thailand last
week rallied to block construction of a remaining section of the
line, due to start pumping in July and bringing in desperately-
needed revenue for military-run Myanmar.

The compensation is crucial as the cash-strapped Myanmar
government has pledged much of the expected monthly revenues from
the project to debtors and will find its debts ballooning if the
project is held up, analysts said.

The Thai government has set up committees to establish whether
the operator of the 260 kilometer Thai pipeline, the state-owned
Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT), will be liable for penalty
fines or compensation if the project does not launch on schedule.