The national police office has extended its contract with PCC Development and Construction Co for another month, despite the developer failing to complete the construction of 396 police stations on time.
Under the initial contract, the police stations were to have been completed by yesterday.
National police chief Pol Gen Adul Saengsingkaew has now agreed to extend the deadline to April 18, but has vowed to take legal action against the developer if this revised deadline is missed.
Not one of the 396 police stations nationwide has been completed, despite the contract beginning almost two years ago on March 26, 2011.
Many construction firms hired by PCC as sub-contractors have abandoned their work, accusing PCC of failing to pay up.
Pol Gen Adul said if PCC fails to finish the construction of all 396 stations by April 18, the Royal Thai Police Office (RTPO) will scrap the contract and file a civil suit against the company, demanding compensation of 5.8 million baht a day for each day of delay.
He said the RTPO had to extend the contract because this project was a large one, given its budget of more than 5 billion baht, and the company needed more time.
The RTPO will send a letter to PCC today to notify it of the new deadline and to warn of the contract termination and legal action if the new date is not met.
At the same time as extending the PCC contract, the RTPO is also conducting a new bid to find new contractors to finish the work in case PCC fails to do so. The bidding process is expected to be completed by April 18.
Pol Gen Worapong Chiewpreecha, a deputy national police chief, said the contract extension would not affect the call for new bids.
On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung urged the RTPO to extend the PCC contract.
There had been speculation the RTPO would scrap the contract after the initial deadline expired yesterday.
Mr Chalerm said he had told Pol Gen Adul that scrapping the contract would probably spark further problems. He urged Pol Gen Adul to extend the contract for one month.
However, Mr Chalerm said the decision rested with Pol Gen Adul and dismissed rumours that he had forced the police chief to comply.