It’s changed names and governments and a few details, but a long-proposed rail system to connect Thailand and its markets to the wider world by rail will take a big step today when contracts are signed China today.
Junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha will preside at a ceremony where two memorandums of understanding are signed giving China the lucrative, exclusive rights to construct more than 700 kilometers of track from Nong Khai through Korat down to the sea in Rayong province.
Another 133-kilometer stretch will connect that line to Bangkok at Kaeng Khoi.
The dual-track rail system is the ruling junta’s version of the former high-speed rail project that was a centerpiece of the former Pheu Thai-led government.
Previously, China had been competing with Japan and France for the rights to construct the project when it was overseen by Pansak Vinyarat, who headed an advisory board to former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. At the time four routes were planned connecting Bangkok to Rayong, Chiang Mai, Nong Khai and Hat Yai. China aggressively pursued the project and consideration given to awarding portions of the big job to different bidders.
In November, 2013, the senate passed a THB2.2 trillion infrastructure bill to fund the project, which a court blocked in March at the height of protests seeking to overthrow the government. After the May coup, the junta pour talked about killing the rail project before rebranding it as a “dual track system” and beginning negotiations with China.
Photo: National News Bureau of Thailand
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