Thai-China high-speed rail set to boost ASEAN connectivity

[kwilco]

19 hours ago, borderhopper2005 said:

July 23, 2011, Chinese High Speed Train disaster took place.

That accident is named Wenzhou train collision.  And it claimed over 200 lives. 

 

 

 

 

After that case, the government of China said death toll is no more than 35. And promptly buries the whole site including the doomed train.

I can imagine the similar can  happen in Thailand in the future if they introduce Chinese bullet train.

Thai State Rail is struggling to maintain their existing railroad. How can you expect they can handle more complicated  faster trains better?

I certainly will not ride such a suicide toy...

Wenzhou train collision - Wikipedia

this is the third worst HSR distaster after Germany and Spain.

[kwilco]

18 hours ago, connda said:

Now - imagine a train going 200 kph.  'Nuff said.

complete rubbish - you don't seem to understand that it involves a totally new rail system.

[sandyf]

28 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

The Lao government gave the green light in 2016 for their high-speed train on an uncharted territory as Laos never had a train system before. The Chinese dug hundreds of tunnels and constructed hundreds of bridges in order to open the link from the Lao-Chinese border in Boten to the Lao-Thai border in Vientiane. 2016 they said, it would be running on 2 December 2021 - in line with the Lao National Day. 

Guess what, the train rolled on 2 December 2021 and since then proved a flawless operation. If the former Thai government - self-assigned since 2014 - would have started then as well, the train link would have been finished in 2021 as well and Bangkok would be connected by rail to the rest of the world. This did not happen and lukewarm excuses came, as the self-elected government finally got out in 2023. The Thai terrain is much easier without all those hinderances of tunnels and bridges - but there was no will. 

Now they finally had to give in and listen to the marching orders from Beijing; I guess the train might run by the end of this decade, unless a political bumper is thrown in - for good measure! 

The northern Thai section of the project wasn't the only one that run into trouble.

"

• The Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok section of the Kunming-Singapore railway would be the highest-hanging fruit of any regional rail network. It would have to traverse a very long distance, much of it through underdeveloped and rural areas that would provide little economic benefit to the railway’s operators. Unsurprisingly, the project would also require a huge investment to get off the ground, and given Thailand and China’s struggles to get a deal on the Bangkok-Vientiane portion done, a Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok initiative won’t be forthcoming anytime soon."
• https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/fact-sheet-kunming-singapore-high-speed-rail-network/

[kwilco]

both French and British had plans for railways in S.E.Asia lly but they couldn't get them through. China has succeeded where they failed. 

THose worried about the railway being substandard are totally wrong - it will be fantastic. What the west has missed out on is the INFLUENCE this railway gives to China. 

Worrying about Chinese military might is also wrong

This railway will give China a hold over the whole S.E. Asian region - they don't need a war..... the west used to be the most powerful influence but now it is China and western politicians (especially isolationists like Trump and Brexiteers) have allowed this to happen. They have been too worried about looking good at home and suddenly they turn round and find the rest of the world has moved on with out them.

[kwilco]

Aother side effet is it seems the expats living in the EEC (Chonburi Rayong and Chachoengsao) still have no idea how the world around them is set to change dramatically.

Edited March 26 by kwilco

[sandyf]

7 hours ago, Peterphuket said:

Totally agree that they are years behind in that but why does it always have to be the Chinese, for example the Japanese are the best in the world if you are talking about high-speed trains.

May be something to do with the fact that it is all part of a Chinese initiative rather than a Japanese initiative.

 

"The Nanning-Singapore Economic Corridor, or China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor (CICPEC), is one of the six major corridors envisioned by China’s One Belt One Road Initiative (OBOR). Its goal is to deepen economic links between ASEAN countries in Southeast Asia and China’s relatively underdeveloped southwest region (Yunnan, Guangxi)."

https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/fact-sheet-kunming-singapore-high-speed-rail-network/

[NorthernRyland]

6 hours ago, sandyf said:

Probably not, for you and many others it will all be about social behaviour, in some distorted belief that your own nation behave impeccably wherever they go.

 

Sorry Chinese tourists are a menace. I've seen it too many times and so do the Thai's. They're largely not welcome from what I can tell.

[bristolgeoff]

I don,t know if it will be good or bad in the future.The new train station  bang su is ready for the trains upstairs if u have being there u can see.The chinese don,t give a free lunch anywhere so i don,t know  what happens if it all goes wrong.Looks good in the pictures

[mrwebb8825]

IF they ever finish it, I'd look into riding it once from BKK to Beijing just for fun and the scenery.

 

As for the war conspiracy theorists, a single rail line wouldn't be a military issue as a single airstrike would halt everything and take 3-5 years to repair.

Anyone remember previetnam? Black ops being run into Laos and se China.

[mrwebb8825]

IF they ever finish it, I'd look into riding it once from BKK to Beijing just for fun and the scenery.

 

As for the war conspiracy theorists, a single rail line wouldn't be a military issue as a single airstrike would halt everything and take 3-5 years to repair.

Anyone remember previetnam? Black ops being run into Laos and se China.

[jojothai]

6 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

Now they finally had to give in and listen to the marching orders from Beijing; I guess the train might run by the end of this decade, unless a political bumper is thrown in - for good measure! 

Not much logic in the comment. What marching orders from Beijing?
and FYI the new dates for completion of the first high speed line are now more realistic than most people think. 
It was not long ago that SRT were saying publicly that it would open in 2026, which was not possible.
The Thais are progressing it despite the problems caused by the Chinese lockdown that delayed design of the Rail system.
The Chinese could not progress much for nearly two years  because of their strict covid lockdown and travel rules.
That is something nobody could have planned for.
There are delays on the Thai side as well, so its not justified to blame any one party. 
Most of the reasons for delay after the MOU for about 4 years, were that the Chinese wanted to finance the Project and to build it all themselves.
And the Thais could not accept that.
It took a long time to get the agreement that the Project is Thai funded ( no potential debt trap),
and that Thailand would build the infrastructure themselves without having to give thousands of jobs in Thailand to Chinese or subordinates. 

[josephbloggs]

2 hours ago, jojothai said:

Not much logic in the comment. What marching orders from Beijing?
and FYI the new dates for completion of the first high speed line are now more realistic than most people think. 
It was not long ago that SRT were saying publicly that it would open in 2026, which was not possible.
The Thais are progressing it despite the problems caused by the Chinese lockdown that delayed design of the Rail system.
The Chinese could not progress much for nearly two years  because of their strict covid lockdown and travel rules.
That is something nobody could have planned for.
There are delays on the Thai side as well, so its not justified to blame any one party. 
Most of the reasons for delay after the MOU for about 4 years, were that the Chinese wanted to finance the Project and to build it all themselves.
And the Thais could not accept that.
It took a long time to get the agreement that the Project is Thai funded ( no potential debt trap),
and that Thailand would build the infrastructure themselves without having to give thousands of jobs in Thailand to Chinese or subordinates. 

Absolutely correct on all points. The anti-Chinese propaganda just gets swallowed up by all the right wingers / Trumpists.

Thailand has actually played this pretty well, although not without a share of blame for delays.

[zakalwe]

14 hours ago, NorthernRyland said:

Sorry Chinese tourists are a menace. I've seen it too many times and so do the Thai's. They're largely not welcome from what I can tell.

Have you seen the news in Thailand lately? Chinese tourists >>>>> farang tourists

[Sydebolle]

13 hours ago, jojothai said:

Not much logic in the comment. What marching orders from Beijing?
and FYI the new dates for completion of the first high speed line are now more realistic than most people think. 
It was not long ago that SRT were saying publicly that it would open in 2026, which was not possible.
The Thais are progressing it despite the problems caused by the Chinese lockdown that delayed design of the Rail system.
The Chinese could not progress much for nearly two years  because of their strict covid lockdown and travel rules.
That is something nobody could have planned for.
There are delays on the Thai side as well, so its not justified to blame any one party. 
Most of the reasons for delay after the MOU for about 4 years, were that the Chinese wanted to finance the Project and to build it all themselves.
And the Thais could not accept that.
It took a long time to get the agreement that the Project is Thai funded ( no potential debt trap),
and that Thailand would build the infrastructure themselves without having to give thousands of jobs in Thailand to Chinese or subordinates. 

 

Like it or not, China calls the shots. Louder in countries like Laos and Cambodia, not as strong in Burma/Myanmar as well as Thailand. All decisions made in this country, irrespective of private industry or government, are ethnic Chinese. Most of them were not here yet 100 years ago. And, trust me, if China says no, then the Thais will bravely agree with "understood". 

[NoDisplayName]

On 3/25/2024 at 9:38 AM, webfact said:

The Thai-China high-speed rail project, overseen by the Transport Ministry, is projected to be fully operational by 2028.

 

Not likely.  The brain engineers are still making changes.  Just announced last week.

 

Quote

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has changed the initial design of a section of the Thailand-China high-speed rail (HSR) project, leading to an increase in construction cost by an additional THB4.7 billion. This move is also expected to delay the project by about 28 months to 2026.

The Ban Mai sub-district section, a part of the Kok Kruad-Nakhon Ratchasima link, will now be constructed as a 7.85 km elevated section instead of a ground-level track. 

 

https://southeastasiainfra.com/thailand-china-hsr-design-changes-to-increase-cost-delay-project/

 

Phase 1 (Bangkok-Korat) is only at an astonishing 15% complete.  Out of who knows how many phases. 

 

They-who-must-not-be-mentioned had the estimated completion at 2027, and VOA two years ago had the completion in 2028, and that was before the delays and cost overruns.

 

At this rate, I expect the line to finally open on the 50th anniversary of China-Taiwan reunification.

[kwilco]

20 hours ago, NorthernRyland said:

Sorry Chinese tourists are a menace. I've seen it too many times and so do the Thai's. They're largely not welcome from what I can tell.

What has your racial prejudice  got to do with the railway?

[sandyf]

23 hours ago, NorthernRyland said:

Sorry Chinese tourists are a menace. I've seen it too many times and so do the Thai's. They're largely not welcome from what I can tell.

"from what I can tell."

Exactly - bigoted opinion.

Chinese tourists have a language problem so they stick with the herd. Foreign tourists are exactly the same problem in China, but they are more grown up and nobody whinges about it.

It is Quing Ming time. There is a Chinese graveyard just down the road from us that stretches for as far as the eye can see. Over the next couple of weeks that will become a canvas city as Sino Thais and Chinese come from around the globe to pay their respects to their ancestors. Obviously something you disagree with.

[claffey]

On 3/25/2024 at 2:20 PM, Peterphuket said:

That's exactly what I was thinking too, it goes on and on with those chinese, if you just look at how many ports they already own in europe.
And recently it was in the news that the container cranes they supply around the world also have spying capabilities again, sooner or later we are <deleted>.

Ridiculous comments. China has never invaded another country. Unless you count the Korean War, but they only did do to drive the American forces away from their border. It's fairly obvious who the real warmongers and it's not the Chinese. 

[jojothai]

On 3/27/2024 at 10:26 AM, Sydebolle said:

 

Like it or not, China calls the shots

So sure eh?

Thats not what i see on the first HSR project.

So my first hand experience has no relevance.

Its just your opinion.

[Sydebolle]

On 3/28/2024 at 1:18 PM, jojothai said:

So sure eh?

Thats not what i see on the first HSR project.

So my first hand experience has no relevance.

Its just your opinion.

Well, I have to agree to disagree yet it might come to an utter surprise, that neither your nor my opinion is of any relevance - whatsoever 😉 Enjoy Wednesday all the while .....