The cabinet has decided to scrap the Khon Thai Pracharath housing projects for low income earners in seven out of eight provinces, after the projects either failed to attract bidders or the successful bidders have encountered financial difficulties and could not proceed with the project.
In the government-initiated project, each housing unit was priced at between 350,000 and 700,000 baht. The houses include twin and terraced houses, each covering an area of not less than 28 square metres.
Prachuap Khiri Khan is the only province in which the housing project could be implemented without problems. The same projects in Chon Buri, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen were cancelled, because the successful bidders encountered liquidity problems and abandoned them.
For the projects in Udon Thani, Lampang and Nakhon Phanom, it is reported that authorities had held two auctions for interested companies to invest in the construction of the houses, but there were no takers.
An official at the Treasury Department in Khon Kaen said that the site of the housing project is not far from the town and is close to several factories, where there are many workers.
The company, which signed the contract for the construction some time ago has, so far, not done any work. The company has not even placed a guarantee, worth about 16 million baht, with the Treasury Department, which owns all the land for the housing projects.
