Korbask:, 40, 000, workers, may, lose

Bloomberg with some quotes on the court decision (as blogged about here and here) which suspended 65 out of 76 projects in the Map Tha Phut industrial estate:

Between 30,000 and 40,000 construction workers may lose their jobs if construction stops, Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu said today in Bangkok.
...
“The 11 projects that can proceed are small,” Supavud Saicheua, managing director of Phatra Securities Pcl, wrote in a note today. An independent body to assess investments could be set up by the first quarter of 2010 “if all goes well,” he wrote, adding that it would take longer for the new organization to then approve the 65 projects.

Supavud's note is here. Key excerpt on new committee led by former PM Anand to solve the problems:

A major issue is the establishment of an independent body with the power to scrutinize and advise on health impact assessments of each project. The Anand committee will consider the first proposal to establish this independent body on 7 Dec. If all goes well, this body should be established in 1Q 2010. However, it is unclear how long the body will take to approve each of the 65 projects in turn. The Anand committee will also produce other recommendations which would require implementation by the government. Our best guess is that under the right circumstances, it will be around mid-year before full implementation occurs.

Today’s court decision is likely to induce the government and corporates to work cooperatively in the Anand committee to quickly produce a compromise solution. Even so, we believe there is a political risk before the govt. can bring about the full approval of the projects that is in conformity with the court’s decision.

BP: We may get more litigation if the approval process is too quick and then more uncertainty.