2 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

I've never met a thai that has actually travelled on a train

Strange. 

Why not develop projects that are beneficial to the commons and society at large, instead of these grandiose schemes that we all know will just kickback underhanded profits to the elite in one form or another. 

 

Things of this nature are obviously of an image creating ideal, less substantive to the masses and the truer economy.

 

Oh well.....'tis the criminal and oligarchical nature of all current/historic government and corporate systems the world over. 

Apparently many more pockets need to be lined here than in Laos and China before construction can start or finish, which is a lengthy process and would explain the delays.

6 hours ago, Seppius said:

What about the high-speed train Bangkok to Pattaya? Don't hear much about that these days

 

Article from 2019

 

"Thailand hopes to have bullet trains running by 2023"

 

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/thailand-bullet-trains/index.html

 

And, I don't see anyone clamoring for it, either.

3 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

So it’s been done before!

No. That is an artist impression of the new Thai railway to Chiang Mai !

 

I doubt it could be slower than the UK ! Over 30 years to decide on a new runway for London Heathrow Airport!

so where will passport contrtol be????

Thailand is hopelessly behind the curve, when it comes to any transportation alternative to the ultra clogged and spectacularly dangerous highways. It is an abomination. The lack of planning is a boil on the face of the nation. And rail cargo should have been a priority for the past 75 years. The quantity of trucks of every size on the highways, combined with a non existent highway patrol, unwilling to enforce any highway laws, makes travel difficult and frustrating. Shame on Thailand. 

Xi isn't letting the Chinese tourists out anytime soon, and as soon as there is even the smallest flare-up of some Covid variant somewhere (and it's never going away, so this will always happen), he will slam the doors shut again, showing that he's keeping the virus "out" and also forcing Chinese to spend their money in country, and, I think, he just likes locking people up. 

But when all that super cheap produce and Chinese goods start flooding Laos and Thailand everyone will be happy. That is except for the Laotians and Thais. And, I reckon tons of Chinese tourists from Kunmimg can't wait to visit.

12 hours ago, Rmac442 said:

This new line offers little to Thailand but a lot to China !!!

Do the trains only go to Thailand and they have to fly back?  Don't all trains go both ways?

 

I would love to take a train from Thailand to Laos and then on to China.

1 hour ago, sumongkhwai said:

But when all that super cheap produce and Chinese goods start flooding Laos and Thailand everyone will be happy

What's stopping the Chinese from bringing cheap Chinese goods to Thailand now?

 

By cargo ship?

 

Same way they bring it to Europe, America, Africa, etc.

 

The "Rubber Barons" ruled the Roost!

18 hours ago, webfact said:

The DRT said that the Laos-China train had investment of 30% from Laos and 70% from China. There was far more input from Chinese tech angles.

 

The Thai project that has racked up 179 billion baht in spending so far is all Thai investment. 

I think this is so the Thai govt can control the commission and to negate China's loan sharking repayment policy

12 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Excellent Idea 

16 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

Before concentrating on the High Speed Train, they might want to consider focusing their attention on actually finishing something - namely the M6 Motorway.  Although in some places it seems almost complete, there are other sections (mainly out of sight) that have large gaps yet to be started and at least one service area where construction hasn't begun - illustrated by Google Maps.  Bizarrely, the street lights have been on for almost 2 years up by Lamtakhong Resrvoir - presumably to assist in growing the abundance of weeds.

 

In September that project will be 3 years late and I think 4 years is a distinct possibility - maybe more.

We travel regularly from Hua Hin to Surin. Have watched the construction with interest, especially near the reservoir. They even have big blue signs up that are covered with hessian. I still wonder if we will be able to use it instead of the number 2 road, but I read the toll will be 10 Baht entry, plus 1.25 Baht per kilometre. 

12 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

What's stopping the Chinese from bringing cheap Chinese goods to Thailand now?

 

By cargo ship?

 

Same way they bring it to Europe, America, Africa, etc.

 

Shhhhh, logical thought is not welcome here - it spoils the anti-Chinese racist narrative.

It's the same as the people who make the ridiculous suggestion that this railway is really for a military invasion.  Really?  If China had any desire to invade Thailand they could do it any time they liked, by air, by land, by sea.  Who invades by train?

So really they are going to load their military might on to high speed trains, get off at the Thai border, unload, load everything up on to a Thai train, continue the invasion.  And all anybody would have to do to foil this invasion is to destroy one section of line, or one bridge, or one tunnel.  

So transfer trains from Nong Khai, off load all your baggage and wait can see big delays transferring baggage and cargo from one to the other.

 

Nobody is talking yet about the branch off to Laem Chabang & Maptaphut & Sattahip, which is slightly odd, since without (or even with) all the Chinese-freight heading for Thai ports there's absolutely no way that the new medium-speed line will be profitable enough, to repay all the construction-loans and initial operating-losses.

 

I mean, how many tens-of-millions of Chinese tourists per-annum are there, who want to go to just Bangkok alone ?  There are very few profitable passenger-lines in the World.  The pre-Covid charter-flights were to Phuket & Chiang Mai & Utapao, not just Don Muang, and aircraft can switch capacity to new destinations at the drop of a hat, as demand changes, compared to fixed-infrastructure like a railway.

 

On 7/23/2022 at 5:56 AM, webfact said:

The Department of Rail Transport has put some dates out when the public can be expected to use the various lines. There is some delay yet as critics see how Laos and China did it in tandem but how the Thais are struggling to meet deadlines. 

Thai support the Chinese expansion drift with the high speed train connecting all directly into the important administrative centers. 

A post using ALL CAPS has been removed, please turn off your Caps Lock when posting. 

 

Off topic posts about a train between USA and Mexico has been removed.

On 7/23/2022 at 8:32 AM, Henryford said:

It took them 4 years to build a tunnel under the Sukhumvit Road in Pattaya. I won't hold my breath looking towards a 400 mile rail system.

They did do that on schedule I believe...... so not a good example. But one only needs to go around the corner to see the pavement work on Pattaya Klang ,which has been ongoing well over a year, and shows zero progress and twists dozens of ankles daily. 

On 7/23/2022 at 2:08 PM, Toaster312 said:

Kind of understandable, since China wanted to claim ownership of the land where high-speed railway is located and Thailand is notoriously strict when it comes to land ownership laws.

China has a habit of claiming ANY land ANYWHERE as suits its mood.

You sleep with dogs you wake up with fleas.

Low speed brains equal low speed actions as we see every day from the dumbsters in charge.

If there are free and fair elections the Thaksin clan will get back in and straighten this mess out. 

10 hours ago, pegman said:

If there are free and fair elections the Thaksin clan will get back in and straighten this mess out. 

OK.  Course he will.  Everything was perfect when he was in power, the railways were developed, Bangkok had massive infrastructure and mass transit development.  Oh wait, no, neither of those things happened.

We got a new airport though and he didn't make a penny from it.

On 7/23/2022 at 2:27 AM, harada said:

Do they have engines. 

Yes! Linear motors as invented by Yorkshire UK inventor university professor Eric Laithwaite in the 1950's. A demo is available on Youtube. The Chinese version is capable 500MPH.

On 7/23/2022 at 3:32 PM, RichardColeman said:

I've never met a thai that has actually travelled on a train

Could that possibly be because you dont live in Thailand Richard--- How many Thai's do you get to speak to at the seas-side in the UK.

 

Just under a Million a month---that was in the Pandemic era--so more now----"As of March 2021, there were around 818.77 thousand regional train passengers in Thailand. In that same month, most of the passengers traveled via third class regional trains, amounting to around 714.76 thousand."

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1275336/thailand-regional-train-passenger-volume/

Thailand is just too slow in building things due to too much bureaucracy and paperwork as usual. 

 

The train from CM to Bangkok is so backwards.

 

At this rate, it will be 2050 before high speed train arrives in Thailand.

 

Laos is now way more advanced in the high speed train area. Someday, I will hop a high speed train in Laos.