MISSION BANGKOK'S REQUEST TO OCCUPY COMMERCIAL SPACE

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