The state-owned Thailand Tobacco Monopoly (TTM) will institute new international bidding to build a new cigarette production facility, according to its spokeswoman, Mrs Prapatsorn Pongpanpisal.

Construction is expected to take up to four years with cigarette production projected at 30 to 35 billion sticks annually.
The announcement came after the Thai government formally scrapped plans to relocate the main production facilities of the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly (TTM) from Bangkok to Chiang Mai under a contract with the China Yunnan Corporation (CYC).
The original contract estimated costs for the new factory and equipment at THB 21 billion (USD 662 million), but the project was plagued by allegations of corruption and political interference from local business interests. CYC petitioned the TTM to change the original equipment specifications and eliminate requirements for European machinery, to allow Chinese manufacturers to compete.
Under the new tender, the facilities would have their investment budget sharply reduced to around THB 10 billion. The TTM expects to finalise the new factory location by the end of October, and would then begin the bidding process. Pongpanpisal said that “specifications for the plant’s cigarette-rolling machinery would be based on European standards, and although existing tobacco processing machinery was sourced from European producers, the TTM was open to sourcing from other countries, including China.”