Anutin says Thai - Laos - China railway will be great benefit to Thais and nation - but there are yet more delays

[webfact]

Picture: INN

 

INN reported that the health minister and DPM Anutin Charvirakul chaired a meeting of almost every relevant government ministry yesterday as they continued to wrangle about the high speed train from Thailand to China via Laos.

 

While the Chinese and the Laotians have swiftly agreed matters and got the line built to Vientiane already, the Thais have been criticized for dallying at every turn.

 

Anutin pressed all ministries to work together in a spitit of cooperation. 

 

He said that the project would be of great benefit to the Thai people and the nation as a whole. 

 

Present were representatives of the Transport, Finance, Foreign, Agriculture and Co-operatives, Industry and Commerce ministries. 

 

This large commitee agreed to set up another committee and work on something called a "Framework Agreement".

 

Principal matter on the table yesterday was the connection from Nong Khai to Vientiane that they have wrangled over for years. 

 

Some small parts of the track from the Bangkok area have been completed but the project is mired in delays, notes ASEAN NOW.

 

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[ThailandRyan]

High speed needed to carry the green crop Anutin says is legal.  He must be setting up his own import business....all aboard the High Times express...

 

Why is the Minister of Health chairing a transportation meeting by the way.

[RandiRona]

He should be talking to Sri Lanka and some countries in Africa who lost their land to Chinese grace.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt-trap_diplomacy

[mtls2005]

Wouldn't the minister of transport, chidchob lead this effort?

 

I'm struggling to understand why the minister of health, with all the challenges that post faces, is noodling around with trains?

 

 

 

 

[happy me]

1 hour ago, mtls2005 said:

Wouldn't the minister of transport, chidchob lead this effort?

 

I'm struggling to understand why the minister of health, with all the challenges that post faces, is noodling around with trains?

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately ANUTIN is also a Deputy Prime Minister.. He's just flexing his "muscles" to see what he can get! But from the sounds of things just more "committees". From reading here I think every Thai government committee has at least one or more sub committee!

[khunPer]

Always liste carefully to what khun Anutin says, he might be the nation's next prime minister...

[Enoon]

9 minutes ago, Conquerbrqvilok said:

Are you saying that Europe didn't lose their land to Russian grace ? oh the North stream may makes Europe knees 

No, I've read the post and no mention was made of Europe.

 

 

[RandiRona]

53 minutes ago, Conquerbrqvilok said:

Are you saying that Europe didn't lose their land to Russian grace ? oh the North stream may makes Europe knees 

They did and still may but the difference is that those lands are taken by force or show of force but in this case countries foolishly inviting China's loans to build infrastructure which is a predatory landing. Unfortunately it's too late till countries able to figure it out.

[JonnyF]

Maybe open the M6 motorway from BKK to Korat before you get too excited about the next mega project. 

[newnative]

Well, easy to see why it's mired in delays.  Way too many agencies involved and way too many committee after committee after committee.  Same story with about everything else.  

[Broken Record]

4 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

High speed needed to carry the green crop Anutin says is legal.  He must be setting up his own import business....all aboard the High Times express...

 

Why is the Minister of Health chairing a transportation meeting by the way.

Because he is Deputy Prime Minister maybe.............

[Broken Record]

3 hours ago, khunPer said:

Always liste carefully to what khun Anutin says, he might be the nation's next prime minister...

Yes, he will.

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Anutin pressed all ministries to work together in a spitit of cooperation. 

????

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

This large commitee agreed to set up another committee and work on something called a "Framework Agreement".

Sounds like too many committees and not enough decisions.

 

[CANSIAM]

Great way to get multi millions of Sinovac here in no time, from a Health Minister point of view......

[daveAustin]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Some small parts of the track from the Bangkok area have been completed

Hey, well done, only 15000 miles to go!

[pegman]

It takes time to divide up the anticipated spoils. Seems getting rail lines built is another thing communists do better.  

[Forza2002]

I'm pretty sure that Anutin's family (Sino-Thai Eng & Construction) are heavily involved in this high speed rail link.

[mrfill]

6 hours ago, RandiRona said:

He should be talking to Sri Lanka and some countries in Africa who lost their land to Chinese grace.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt-trap_diplomacy

Reading the link we find "Chatham House published a research paper in 2020 concluding that Sri Lanka's debt distress was unconnected to Chinese lending, but resulted instead more from "domestic policy decisions" facilitated by Western lending and monetary policy, rather than by the policies from the Chinese government."

and

"A 2019 research paper by Bräutigam found that most of the debtor countries voluntarily signed on to the loans and had positive experiences working with China, and "the evidence so far, including the Sri Lankan case, shows that the drumbeat of alarm about Chinese banks' funding of infrastructure across the BRI and beyond is overblown"

and

"On March 2018 report released by the Center for Global Development says that between 2001 and 2017, China restructured or waived loan payments for 51 debtor nations, the majority of BRI participants, without seizing state assets"

and

"A 2019 report by the Lowy Institute said China had not engaged in deliberate actions in the Pacific that justified the accusations of debt-trap diplomacy, at least based on contemporaneous evidence, and stated that China had not been the primary driver behind rising debt risks in the Pacific, but warned the scale of its lending and the institutional weakness of Pacific states posed risks of small states being overwhelmed by debt"

and

"A 2020 article by the Lowy Institute called Sri Lanka's Hambantota International Port portrayed as the "case par excellence" for China's debt-trap diplomacy, but stated that the narrative was a "myth" and that the project was proposed by former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, not Beijing.[37] The article added that Sri Lanka's debt distress was not caused by Chinese lending, but from "excessive borrowing on Western-dominated capital markets."

 

Doesn't seem to fit the fashionable narrative. But don't let a few truths get in the way of a good Sinophobic rant.

 

[bangon04]

25 minutes ago, mrfill said:

Reading the link we find "Chatham House published a research paper in 2020 concluding that Sri Lanka's debt distress was unconnected to Chinese lending, but resulted instead more from "domestic policy decisions" facilitated by Western lending and monetary policy, rather than by the policies from the Chinese government."

and

"A 2019 research paper by Bräutigam found that most of the debtor countries voluntarily signed on to the loans and had positive experiences working with China, and "the evidence so far, including the Sri Lankan case, shows that the drumbeat of alarm about Chinese banks' funding of infrastructure across the BRI and beyond is overblown"

and

"On March 2018 report released by the Center for Global Development says that between 2001 and 2017, China restructured or waived loan payments for 51 debtor nations, the majority of BRI participants, without seizing state assets"

and

"A 2019 report by the Lowy Institute said China had not engaged in deliberate actions in the Pacific that justified the accusations of debt-trap diplomacy, at least based on contemporaneous evidence, and stated that China had not been the primary driver behind rising debt risks in the Pacific, but warned the scale of its lending and the institutional weakness of Pacific states posed risks of small states being overwhelmed by debt"

and

"A 2020 article by the Lowy Institute called Sri Lanka's Hambantota International Port portrayed as the "case par excellence" for China's debt-trap diplomacy, but stated that the narrative was a "myth" and that the project was proposed by former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, not Beijing.[37] The article added that Sri Lanka's debt distress was not caused by Chinese lending, but from "excessive borrowing on Western-dominated capital markets."

 

Doesn't seem to fit the fashionable narrative. But don't let a few truths get in the way of a good Sinophobic rant.

 

You are correct that national government incompetence and endemic corruption are major causes of the debt trap. Let us wait and see how the CCP exploits this weakness..... no ulterior motives, probably.......

[bangon04]

6 hours ago, Conquerbrqvilok said:

Are you saying that Europe didn't lose their land to Russian grace ? oh the North stream may makes Europe knees 

Maybe you should also add the A1 highway farce in Montenegro - they are Russian friends after all.....

[Conquerbrqvilok]

5 hours ago, RandiRona said:

They did and still may but the difference is that those lands are taken by force or show of force but in this case countries foolishly inviting China's loans to build infrastructure which is a predatory landing. Unfortunately it's too late till countries able to figure it out.

You are right I agree , but Russia also will not take long to enter Europe oh are already there indeed

[BusyB]

8 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Sounds like too many committees and not enough decisions.

 

Sounds to me like they're angling for a discount, brown envelopes, or just don't want to do it.

[Albert Zweistein]

7 hours ago, Forza2002 said:

I'm pretty sure that Anutin's family (Sino-Thai Eng & Construction) are heavily involved in this high speed rail link.

Heavily involved ? Nothing is going on besides appointing committee after committee.

[Soikhaonoiken]

Yes, the railway will get you to your buddies in China  and vice versa much quicker.... 

[Andycoops]

So now the 'dirty farang' speaker suddenly knows all about transport to go with his extensive knowledge of medicine, joke.

[internationalism]

Dr anutin, the health minister and cement magnate, now branches into railways. 
At the very same time his breathren transport minister chidchob is opening health marihuana farm in their homeland buriram province, where his elder older brother former deputy internal miinister and high profile murderer is running bhumjaithai party, from which dr anutin and chidchob got their ministerial seats. 
would be interesting to know if motorway from buriram to the nearest rail terminal is already build. 
Fresh, dried, frozen, preserved, oiled marihuana can cover all china within fays

[metisdead]

A post with content that was copy and pasted from some site without a supporting link to the source of information has been removed. 

[pattaya1234was]

14 hours ago, mrfill said:

Reading the link we find "Chatham House published a research paper in 2020 concluding that Sri Lanka's debt distress was unconnected to Chinese lending, but resulted instead more from "domestic policy decisions" facilitated by Western lending and monetary policy, rather than by the policies from the Chinese government."

and

"A 2019 research paper by Bräutigam found that most of the debtor countries voluntarily signed on to the loans and had positive experiences working with China, and "the evidence so far, including the Sri Lankan case, shows that the drumbeat of alarm about Chinese banks' funding of infrastructure across the BRI and beyond is overblown"

and

"On March 2018 report released by the Center for Global Development says that between 2001 and 2017, China restructured or waived loan payments for 51 debtor nations, the majority of BRI participants, without seizing state assets"

and

"A 2019 report by the Lowy Institute said China had not engaged in deliberate actions in the Pacific that justified the accusations of debt-trap diplomacy, at least based on contemporaneous evidence, and stated that China had not been the primary driver behind rising debt risks in the Pacific, but warned the scale of its lending and the institutional weakness of Pacific states posed risks of small states being overwhelmed by debt"

and

"A 2020 article by the Lowy Institute called Sri Lanka's Hambantota International Port portrayed as the "case par excellence" for China's debt-trap diplomacy, but stated that the narrative was a "myth" and that the project was proposed by former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, not Beijing.[37] The article added that Sri Lanka's debt distress was not caused by Chinese lending, but from "excessive borrowing on Western-dominated capital markets."

 

Doesn't seem to fit the fashionable narrative. But don't let a few truths get in the way of a good Sinophobic rant.

 

And have the Chinese built the motorway from Colombo to Kandy which was just a pile of gravel in a field just north of Colombo-not when I was last there.

[Sydebolle]

The Laotian railway was the first ever real railway the country saw. This discounts the attempts by the French in the 1920 in Southern Laos; that locomotive is still rusting silently in Khon Phapheng.

2014 the idea was finally conceived; 2016 the construction started by the Chinese, with Chinese money and Chinese workers with the goal of having the first bullet train racing through landlocked, railway-less Laos five years later. Needless to say, that the train opened on time and functions. 

The Thais were always informed on the project and should have started at the same time - the same "government" was and is still in power so they cannot pass on that bucket. 

Today, the trains stop in Vientiane and now the pressure is on Thailand. But, instead of the transport minister from the Chidchob-clan, the "meeting" was chaired by the health minister in his capacity as deputy prime minister. People might want to keep in mind, that Anutin unofficially runs "Sino-Thai", an engineering and construction conglomerate of largest proportions which also built the original Suvannaphoum airport and recently, purely co-incidential of course, got awarded the extension of said airport. 

Bets are taken on who will be the power wig once it comes to build the railway from Nong Khai all the way to the Thai-Malay border; the present track will most likely not be able to accommodate trains at 160km/h. 

Mysterious are the ways of the East .............