Beijing says construction of multibillion-dollar China-Thailand rail must be sped up

[webfact]

 

Connectivity of the two countries with Laos also needs to be hastened, Chinese foreign minister said on Bangkok visit

China and Thailand need to speed up the construction of a delayed, high-speed railway to link their countries, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Monday at the end of a three-day visit to Bangkok.

 

The Thai PM, for his part, said Beijing’s loan of pandas to Thailand signified the warm ties between the two nations and he hoped China would soon send a giant member of that rare bear species to replace Lin Hui who died last April.

 

Wang said he appreciated Srettha’s decision to make China the first country to visit, outside Southeast Asia, after taking office, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

 

“The two sides should jointly advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, speed up the construction of the China-Thailand Railway, and open the central line of the Trans-Asian Railway,” Wang said to Srettha at their meeting, the statement said.

 

The nations should also “realize regional connectivity, and promote the early implementation of the vision of interconnected development of China, Laos and Thailand, so as to provide new impetus and open up new space for the long-term development of the two countries,” China’s top diplomat said.

 

By Nontarat Phaicharoen for BenarNews

Top: File photo

 

Full story: RFA - Radio Free Asia2024-01-31

 

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[bokningar]

The master has spoken

[StayinThailand2much]

2 minutes ago, bokningar said:

The master has spoken

 

Wonder, why Xi is in a hurry...

[lordgrinz]

Your Emperor has spoken, "Thailand jump"..........."how high master?"

[Eric Loh]

The rail link to Laos will have extensive reduction of cargo transport costs by 30-50% and increase the export and import border trade. The construction has been snail pace during Prayut's adminstration.

[metisdead]

A post with a trolling meme contravening our Community Standards has been removed.

[wombat]

easy fix...throw more money at it

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Wonder, why Xi is in a hurry...

It wants an artery straight into Thailand for all it's products and scammers.

[Pib]

China's newest province: Thailand.

 

 

[John Drake]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The nations should also “realize regional connectivity, and promote the early implementation of the vision of interconnected development of China, Laos and Thailand, so as to provide new impetus and open up new space for the long-term development of the two countries,” China’s top diplomat said.

 

China: And here's a panda for good measure. Now hop to it!

 

Thailand: Yezzuh, Bwana!

[John Drake]

59 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

It wants an artery straight into Thailand for all it's products and scammers.

 

And all on 90 day visa free entries. At least they'll need a visa until Thailand is sufficiently occupied, as is the case in Laos, where Chinese just move in and set up shop with less paperwork than going from Shanghai to Wuhan.

[Gknrd]

Was in Laos for several months last year and all the people talk about is the debt of the railway and how it has hurt the country. Although all the knock off products from China were stacked high in all the stores. And cheap as chips. That whole SE Asia corridor is one huge mess. 

[bradiston]

China must have realised that Thai politicians are more or less incapable of finishing the railway link. All it needs is the Thai section between Bangkok and Nong Khai, already partly built, and a link up between Nong Khai and Vientiane, and the rest is already built all the way to Kunming. You can sense Yi's frustration. And all Coco can come up with is "Can we have a panda please? Thai people loved the last one you gave us! And now he's dead. Waaaaaah." What a clown!

 

Here's a tip for China. Give up on Thailand. It's good for a cuppla weeks hols, a loada prawns, some very tasty ladyboys, and some great scams. But business partners? Nah. Go via Myanmar. Access all areas after that. Simple.

Edited January 31 by bradiston

[mokwit]

Think it is another renegade province, obviously.

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, Gknrd said:

Although all the knock off products from China were stacked high in all the stores. And cheap as chips.

Mostly run by the Chinese who moved in and bought up everything

[PETERTHEEATER]

Perhaps connecting Standard Gauge railtrack to One Metre Gauge railtrack is proving to be difficult 😀

[Banana7]

China's economy  is in a desperate state and they need to lower costs of shipping products and people to Thailand. As the Chinese official stated, "provide new impetus and open up new space for the long-term development " of China so that Thailand becomes a satellite country of China. China can then export more Chinese into Thailand, and eventually place "Chinese security services"  in Thailand to protect the Chinese "visitors".

 

Wake-up Thailand, and get ready to be assimilated into China.

[zhounan]

Welcome to the Community of Shared Future, Thailand market will be flooded by cheap Chinese stuff more than ever.

 

Lazada stuff from China to Bangkok: 29 baht, stuff from Bangkok to Bangkok 35 baht. 

Think who will win and who will lose.

 

Thailand is an integral part of the the Community of Shared Future, it means that Thailand is one of the satellites of the China's production.

Edited January 31 by zhounan

[John Drake]

13 minutes ago, Banana7 said:

China's economy  is in a desperate state and they need to lower costs of shipping products and people to Thailand. As the Chinese official stated, "provide new impetus and open up new space for the long-term development " of China so that Thailand becomes a satellite country of China. China can then export more Chinese into Thailand, and eventually place "Chinese security services"  in Thailand to protect the Chinese "visitors".

 

Wake-up Thailand, and get ready to be assimilated into China.

 

Wouldn't be surprised to see Chinese troops, engineers, builders, and labor dispatched to Thailand to finish off the train job themselves.

[Srikcir]

3 hours ago, wombat said:

easy fix...throw more money at it

That would require China to lend more money to Thailand as it financed 100%. But China's domestic economy is suffering too. Thus, the pressure to vampire the project to begin producing revenue and paying China principle and interest on its loan.

[Srikcir]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

The nations should also “realize regional connectivity, and promote the early implementation of the vision of interconnected development of China

Like as was done with Hong Kong.

[Selatan]

9 hours ago, Gknrd said:

Was in Laos for several months last year and all the people talk about is the debt of the railway and how it has hurt the country. Although all the knock off products from China were stacked high in all the stores. And cheap as chips. That whole SE Asia corridor is one huge mess. 

Laos is stuck in a poverty trap since forever and this railway is a way out of this trap but it takes time. At the moment, most of the goods moving up and down this railroad are either Chinese or Thai goods because Laos has nothing much to sell to China. Because Laos was land-locked, its people mostly practiced subsistence agriculture. What it needs are foreign entrepreneurs and investors.

[Selatan]

7 hours ago, Srikcir said:

That would require China to lend more money to Thailand as it financed 100%. But China's domestic economy is suffering too. Thus, the pressure to vampire the project to begin producing revenue and paying China principle and interest on its loan.

Thailand did not borrow any money from China for this project. That's probably the reason why it is progressing at a snail's pace.

[Srikcir]

4 hours ago, Selatan said:

Thailand did not borrow any money from China for this project. That's probably the reason why it is progressing at a snail's pace.

A PM Prayut deal made in 2014 - Chinese cash in exchange for rice and rubber. 

[Banana7]

Wake-up Thailand, and see what is really happening in China and why they want Thailand to speed-up their railway project and why they want to ship more Chinese products into Thailand at cheaper transport costs. Have a look at this video

 

[Gknrd]

20 hours ago, Selatan said:

Laos is stuck in a poverty trap since forever and this railway is a way out of this trap but it takes time. At the moment, most of the goods moving up and down this railroad are either Chinese or Thai goods because Laos has nothing much to sell to China. Because Laos was land-locked, its people mostly practiced subsistence agriculture. What it needs are foreign entrepreneurs and investors.

Tell that to the poor people that cannot drive on the roads now because the government is servicing the debt of the railway and sending all its money to China. The infrastructure is falling apart in Laos because of the debt of the railway. There is basically no maintenance to the infrastructure in the country. I have never seen anything like it. Too late now, hopefully Thailand will be forward thinking enough to see what is going on. But, I have my doubts.