Thailand to go it alone on Thai-Sino high-speed rail

Thailand to go it alone on Thai-Sino high-speed rail 

Sole investor status 'will end delays' 

The high-speed rail project has been touted as a joint Thai-Chinese operation since the junta first promoted it, but now will be all-Thai because of unsuccessful haggling over cost sharing. (File photo)

24 Mar 2016 

Thailand has decided to wholly invest in the Thai-Sino railway project after it failed to agree in talks with China on the terms of the arrangement which has set back progress for months. The decision... 

The decision was announced Wednesday by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha as he was attending the first Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) summit in Sanya, Hainan province. "Lancang" is Chinese for Mekong The... 

The summit, which brings together leaders from Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and China, ends Thursday. 

Gen Prayut said after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang that, as well as cooperation on sharing resources from the Mekong River, Thailand and China also discussed the development of the... 

It was decided Thailand will wholly invest in the project and hire China to develop the project, instead of a joint investment venture planned earlier, Gen Prayut said. 

This is because Thailand wants the country's first high-speed train project to "get off the ground", Gen Prayut said. 

The first section to be developed will be the 250km Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima section, the prime minister said. 

The Thai-Sino dual-track rail route, which can handle medium- to high-speed train services, will involve two phases of construction. The first phase will involve the Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima section and... 

Previously, Thailand made a proposal to the Chinese authorities that China should hold a 60% stake in a special purpose vehicle, or SPV, for the project but China disagreed. 

The loan issue has played a part in delays in the Thai-Chinese train scheme as the government repeatedly urged China to cap the interest rate at 2%. The government argued China was pushing for too high... 

This graphic shows the plan for the joint Thai-Chinese high-speed railway as of last July. The plan now is largely out the window, after China's participation has been axed.

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