The Thai Government has given an ultimatum to the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP)-led consortium if they fail to sign the contract for the development of a multi-billion high-speed railway project that will link three airports in Thailand. 

The signing of the contract for the project is set on October 15, 2019. The winning consortium raised some concerns about the handover of land for the project construction. Under the development deal, the contractors will develop and operate the high-speed rail system for a period of 50 years and commercially develop 150 rai of land in the Makkasan area and a 100-rai plot in Chon Buri's Si Racha. The State Railway of Thailand will clear the land for the project but has insisted that about 80% of more than 10,000 rai can be handed over straight away to the contractor to begin work while 20% of the land required for construction is still in negotiation over the right-of-way as well as leasing contracts with the private sector.

The winning consortium consists of CP, Bangkok Expressway and Metro Plc, China Railway Construction Corporation Ltd, Ch Karnchang Plc, and Italian-Thai Development Plc. If the consortium fails to sign the contract by the specified date, the bid bond worth THB2 billion (US$65 million) will be seized by the Thai Government all the companies making up the consortium will be blacklisted and prohibited from taking part in any further bidding for state projects. The consortium is also required to pay for damages incurred by its failure to sign the contract. During the bidding stage, the CP-led consortium offered the lowest bid of THB117.2 billion (US$3.8 billion) with the government setting the state subsidy for the project at THB119 billion (US$3.867 billion).

The project aims to connect the Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao airports in Bangkok, Samut Prakan, and Rayong.