VZCZCXRO9048
RR RUEHCHI
DE RUEHBK #1329/01 1540707
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 030707Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7183
INFO RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 6618

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 001329 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AMGT ABLD PREL TH
SUBJECT: MISSION BANGKOK'S REQUEST TO OCCUPY COMMERCIAL SPACE 
VACATED BY USAID 
 
REFS: A)STATE 46087, B)BANGKOK 690 
 
¶1. SUMMARY:  Bangkok is a rapidly growing regional post in critical 
need of additional functional office space.  Post U.S. Direct Hire 
positions have grown by 35% in the last 10 years, and the Overseas 
Building Operations (OBO) estimated in their recent Master Planning 
exercise that Post requires a 40% increase in current functional 
space.  Moreover, the Department has directed (Ref A) posts to 
address space constraints in preparation for the deployment of 
additional Foreign Service personnel.  Until recently, Bangkok was 
on the OBO Master Building List ("Top 80") for a 2009 construction 
start.  But with our target construction start date now postponed to 
2023, we must now address the immediate critical need for additional 
office space for existing personnel, and for the near term expected 
growth.  Post herein proposes a viable and cost effective solution 
in keeping with the Ref A mandate from Deputy Secretary Lew, and 
requests OBO's permission to enter into a short-term lease for 
commercial space being vacated by USAID.  End Summary. 
 
An Urgent Need For Space 
 
¶2. Bangkok is bursting at the seams.  We are a regional platform 
serving not only EAP posts, but also SCA and NEA needs for State and 
22 other agencies.  To do this, we are operating out of three 
government-owned compounds we have possessed since the 1950s:  The 
New Office Building (NOB) which solely houses our Chancery; the 
Existing Office Building (EOB) across the street from the NOB, which 
includes the old chancery building and several small annex 
operations; and the Rajdamri Compound, approximately 15 minutes away 
which houses our Government Services Office (GSO), Warehousing, and 
Facilities operations as well as several tenant activities and 5 
houses.  We have no office space left in the NOB Chancery.  Our 
common conference rooms have been reduced from five to two in order 
to create more work stations.  The EOB's primary building (the 
Mission's old ex-chancery) has been reconfigured and redesigned so 
many times that we have lost count.  OBO recently decided that it 
would be too costly to renovate the EOB to bring it to code and that 
the building should be demolished.  The Rajdamri compound is already 
beyond capacity.  Bangkok's existing space is not sufficient to meet 
current needs, and yet its highly educated and inexpensive labor 
force has made it, and continues to make it, the logical location to 
expand and strengthen the Department's and the entire USG's regional 
support operations.  This is detailed in Ref B's overview of the 
Bangkok management platform.  We were already looking for creative 
space solutions when we received Deputy Secretary Lew's Ref A 
instruction to address space constraints in preparation for an 
increase in Foreign Service personnel due to the President's success 
in acquiring additional funds to expand the civilian capacity to 
undertake diplomacy and development. 
 
¶3. For the past four years, Bangkok has been hopeful that its 
desperate need for office space would be addressed with the planned 
development of the Rajdamri Compound and related construction on the 
EOB Compound.  With this year's realignment of the "Top 80," 
Bangkok's extensive development plan was moved from a 2009 project 
to a 2023 project. 
 
¶4. In the past 10 years, the growth agencies have largely been 
various State elements which require office space on a government 
owned/long term lease compound.  State numbers grew from 176 to 315 
US Direct Hires.  LES staff have grown from 770 to 1,300 in 10 
years.  In total, the Mission has grown from 467 US Direct Hires to 
about 610 in the last 10 years.  This pace is not slowing:  M/PRI's 
Rightsizing analysis has Bangkok currently needing 2,037 employees; 
OBO's recent master plan cited the need for a new 10 story office 
building, a 40% increase in our functional office space 
requirements.  A 2023 construction start date would obviously not 
supply any new space until 2026 or beyond. 
 
¶5. Indeed, one of the largest growth agents, recent and future, and 
key to the Secretary's plan to expand diplomacy and development 
capacity is the Resource Management Bureau's Global Financial 
Service Center Bangkok (GFSB) which resides in the EOB.  GFSB 
processes the payroll for over 21,000 LES employees through 135 
different compensation plans in 61 countries totaling an average of 
$15 million every two weeks.  This is just one example of the work 
that GFSB does that has a global impact, and its staff and 
responsibilities grow every year.  The Mission wants to provide them 
with space they need, but finds that we are not able to water the 
soup further. 
 
An Opportunity on the Horizon 
 
¶6. Later this year, USAID will vacate four floors of the GPF 
Witthayu Tower A Building directly across the street from the NOB, 
and adjacent to the EOB.  These four floors have a DS collocation 
waiver, and hardline upgrades.  The GPF Building also houses Post's 
Health Unit, Foreign Commercial Service, Transnational Crime Affairs 
Section, and Foreign Agriculture Service. 
 
¶7. These four floors would provide 2,679 square meters of office 
space to the Mission at a cost of $572,538 per year.  At $213 a 
 
BANGKOK 00001329  002 OF 002 
 
 
square meter per year for the existing lease, the cost is lower than 
nearby buildings.  This space would provide office space for over 
100 embassy personnel, and would allow us to relocate complete 
functions out of the NOB and EOB so the GFSB could expand, and NOB 
tenants could be realigned and have adequate space in the NOB. 
 
¶8. If the space is returned to the landlord, there will be 
substantial costs incurred.  The hardline must be dismantled from 
GPF before the space is returned to the landlord and is estimated to 
cost $300,000.  The cost of establishing new hardline for a similar 
space is $1.5 million.  The GPF space currently provides the 
necessary hardlining at no extra cost. 
 
¶9. Post plans on moving the Regional Human Resources Office (RHRO), 
Public Affairs Office (PAO) and sections of GSO to the GPF building 
in order to reconfigure and maximize office space in our existing 
government-owned buildings. 
 
¶10. RHRO will be moved from the NOB to GPF to accommodate the need 
for more non-CAA space in the NOB.  The second floor of the NOB is 
the only floor with substantial non-CAA office space in the 
building.  As the Embassy has grown both in terms of bilateral and 
regional responsibilities demand for management and administrative 
support staff for CAA entities has dramatically increased.  This 
floor at the NOB was originally intended for 90 work stations, but 
as of today we have 123 people working in this space.  Something has 
to give.  The RHRO's 30 employees and requirement to interact with 
the general public for recruitment, make them the right choice to 
move to GPF.  The extra space created by their departure will allow 
us to reconfigure the entire second floor of the NOB for better 
efficiencies and future growth, some of which we already know is on 
the way. 
 
¶11. PAO is the most logical of all Embassy entities to move to the 
GPF.  From the Information Resource Center, Fulbright, cultural 
exchanges and programs to interactions with the media, better public 
access improves public diplomacy.  However, just as important is 
what PAO's vacated space in the EOB would mean to the current and 
future operations of the GFSB.  Over the past four years GFSB has 
grown by 43%, and this year alone it is looking to add another 30 
positions.  Its seven-day a week operation processes four billion 
dollars a year in voucher payments and salaries.  Most of its growth 
is in the Post Support Unit which focuses on off-shore voucher 
processing.  This unit was created in 2004 to support Embassy 
Baghdad and a few distressed posts, but today supports 27 Embassies 
worldwide and is continuing to grow.  The vacated PAO space is just 
what we need to accommodate this expansion.  The GFSB is one of the 
most cost effective operations in the federal government, and its 
support is one of the Mission's top priorities. 
 
¶12. Three sub-sections of GSO will move to GPF.  Closer proximity to 
its customers in the NOB, EOB and GPF will make GSO more accessible 
and effective service providers.  Moving these GSO elements from 
Rajdamri will also have a domino effect at the compound that will 
create much needed warehouse space. In 2008, a section of the GSO 
warehouse was given to ATO Asia in anticipation of a new warehouse 
that was planned for 2009.  Now that construction has been pushed 
back until 2023 additional space is desperately needed, and by 
moving parts of GSO we can alleviate some of that pressure. 
 
¶13. The window to take over this soon-to-be vacated lease is fast 
approaching.  Post feels that by taking the opportunity to extend 
this lease for ICASS and State tenants, we can meet the existing 
space needs and be better positioned for future growth.  To 
establish additional office space elsewhere from scratch, would cost 
well over $2 million and would not be adjacent to the EOB and NOB. 
 
¶14.  The ICASS Council and the RSO support this plan.  The entire 
mission is excited about this opportunity to expand and strengthen 
our capacity for diplomacy and development.  We therefore request 
OBO concurrence in this creative, cost-effective approach to meeting 
our space crisis by approving our request to enter into a short-term 
lease for office space. 
 
JOHN