Bangkok, Thailand, Skytrain Pins Financial Hopes on Route Extensions.

Byline: Charoen Kittikanya

Oct. 1--The skytrain operator, Bangkok Mass Transit Systems, has made little headway in efforts to restructure its debts totalling more than 30 billion baht, according to an executive at the company.

Of the total debt, 70 percent was lent by Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW), the German development bank, and the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank's investment arm. The rest was borrowed from Siam Commercial Bank.

The skytrain cost more than 53 billion baht to build, of which 30 billion was borrowed.

Anat Arbhabhirama, an adviser to the BTSC board of directors, said earlier that the company would make every effort to win the creditors' support, either through debt-to-equity conversion, debt rescheduling or a loss on investment.

Under the original loan contract, BTSC will begin paying the principal next year. All the debt is to be repaid by 2008. But after about 20 months in service, the skytrain's financial performance has been disappointing, mainly due to a big shortfall in the number of commuters.

Originally, the company projected 400,000 passengers a day, generating enough revenue to cover its operating costs and interest payments. But with only 220,000 passengers a day on average, BTSC can afford to pay only for its daily operations, such as salaries, electricity and maintenance.