Price of a stamp to be BT3
CAT bids to clean up balance sheet as it gears up for privatisation of mail unitSending a letter within the country will soon cost a baht more as the postal service gears up to clean up its books and stand on its own feet ahead of privatisation.
Somchai Reopanichkul, executive vice president of the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT), said yesterday that the CAT’s postal unit, which has suffered chronic losses, needed to raise domestic postage from the present Bt2 to Bt3 this year and to Bt4 in 2005. The hike to Bt3 is pending Cabinet approval, he said.
The move will affect many people, but is mandatory for the postal unit to stop running in the red, Somchai said.
The unit has held the price of a stamp at Bt2 for 20 years, while the actual cost is now Bt4.
The Bt2 stamp, which goes on a 20-gram letter, accounts for 60 per cent of all postal stamps sold but generates only 30 per cent of total revenue.
The postal unit lost Bt1.4 billion last year. It expects to book a Bt1.8-billion loss this year and a Bt1.4-billion deficit next year.
Losses should decline to Bt1 billion in 2004, Bt400 million in 2005 and Bt100 million in 2006.
Somchai said 2007 would be the first year that the postal unit would see a profit.
The service’s snail-mail business has been hurt by the Internet, which is much faster and has become perhaps the most popular communications channel today.
The price hike is in line with the unit’s privatisation plan, which requires it to increase revenue, seek new promising businesses and slash its 15,000 headcount, Somchai said.
The postal unit is due to be reborn as Thailand Post Co in October.
“More importantly, the unit has to adjust its postage tariff as part of its preparation for the liberalisation of the global postal service market in 2005 under World Trade Organisation commitments,” Somchai said.
The government is expected to provide the postal unit some Bt6.5 billion in funding over four years to help clean up its accumulated losses and facilitate its privatisation process, he added.
Out of the total funds, Bt1.2 billion will be used for the unit’s early-retirement programme, and Bt300 million for a one-month special bonus for the employees entering the programme.
After privatisation, the Finance Ministry will hold 100 per cent of the postal unit, which will move under the umbrella of the Information Technology Ministry due to be set up in October.
Usanee Mongkolporn
THE NATION
