Railway strike leaves thousands of passengers stranded in Thailand
BANGKOK (AP): State railway workers in Thailand launched a rare strike Wednesday over a plan to allow competition by private companies, leaving thousands of passengers stranded throughout the country.
About 330 of Thailand's 2,220 railway employees stopped working, and 37 trains in different parts of the country could not run as a result, said Deputy Transport Minister Sansern Wongcha-um.
The government was negotiating with the union to end the strike and expected train service to resume Thursday, Sansern said.
``The State Railway of Thailand's board failed to protect the interests of the SRT, resulting in a huge financial loss,'' the State Railway Workers' Union said in a statement.
``Railway workers were against the amendment of laws which would allow private companies to operate train service in competition with the SRT,'' said the union's president, Reangsak Khaengkhan.
The union fears massive layoffs if the amendments are passed, he said.
Wednesday's strike will cost the state railways 17 million baht (US$536,270; euro371,130), the railway said.
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