Thai govt plans road show in 12 provinces on high-speed trains

[webfact]

POLITICS
Govt plans road show in 12 provinces on high-speed trains
The Nation

The government plans a road show to promote its high-speed train projects in 12 provinces during October and November.

BANGKOK: -- The first is slated for Nong Khai from October 4-8 and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will preside over the event. During her recent visit to the Northeastern province, she promised to turn Nong Khai into a hub of the region.

The Cabinet on September 24 will be asked to approve the Finance Ministry's proposal to widen its loan-guarantee scope for state enterprises and government agencies. Under Article 27 of the Public Debt Management Act BE 2548, the ministry is authorised to provide full or partial loan guarantee to government agencies, state enterprises or specialised financial institutions.

In the draft amendment, the ministry specifies other types of loans that it may ask for the Cabinet's endorsement for extra guarantee.

- Loans for infrastructure projects that benefit the general public, projects that generate high economic and social value.

- Loans extended by international agencies, foreign governments, overseas state-owned financial institutions, or foreign financial institutions.

- Loans borrowed in tight market condition. Without guarantee, it may cause damage to the country.

- Loans on which the ministry has to shoulder full or partial responsibility, as ordered by the Cabinet.

- Refinancing loans.

- Loans essential to implement the government's policies.

- Revolving loans for government agencies, state enterprises and state-owned financial institutions whose product and service prices are under the government's control.

- Loans for investment or refinancing projects.

A government source said that the Finance Ministry said its guarantee would save the borrowing cost and enhance public debt management efficiency.

The Cabinet secretary-general's office opined that this is one of the measures to maintain the government's borrowing cost. However, the National Economic and Social Development Board warned that the ministry must strictly follow through the public debt management planning and other laws and regulations.

Former finance minister Korn Chatikavanij yesterday said poor management by politicians in power should be blamed for problems with large infrastructure projects of the past, such as construction of Suvarnabhumi Airport. "Delays or failures of those projects stemmed from poor management, and not from the source of funds," he said.

Korn, a deputy leader of the opposition Democrat Party, was responding to a Facebook post by Transport Minister Chatchart Sithipan that political changes would have no impact on transport infrastructure projects to be funded by loans to be borrowed by the Finance Ministry. "Every government from now on will have to follow this plan to build the country's future," he said.

Supavud Saichuea, managing director for research at Phatra Securities, said yesterday that the projects under the loans plan would help push Thailand's gross domestic product to at least 5 per cent a year.

Sompravin Manprasert, from Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Economics, did not think the loans would help stimulate the economy in the short term but that positive effects would be visible in two to three years.


-- The Nation 2013-09-21

[uty6543]

They can't keep their slow trains on the tracks. The idea of high speed trains seem like a guaranteed death trap. I would not take one until they are proved to be safe

[NongKhaiKid]

A "road " show to promote high speed trains and I'll bet they don't go to Nong Khai on the current rail system.

[chooka]

They can't keep their slow trains on the tracks. The idea of high speed trains seem like a guaranteed death trap. I would not take one until they are proved to be safe

I agree Thailand is definitely not ready for high speed. With the constant derailments of their existing trains they are looking like a complete bunch of fools for even considering it.

Australia has been considering a high speed rail system from Brisbane to Melbourne for a number of years. A distance of 1,750 kms with a cost of 114 Billion AUD and is estimated to take 30 yrs to complete. It is considered not viable given the number of low cost airfares. These costs are only for the tracks and not the actual trains which will be purchased and operated by private companies.

I would like to know the actual costs and time frames Thailand has in it's planning. Yes I know they have already prepared the menus for the box lunches on the trains and these are ready to go.

[handsomeATM]

thai govt plans road show high on speed...

[worgeordie]

Carried out by Walt Disney Productions,its a fantasy,dream world.

regards Worgeordie

[Thait Spot]

All those new loan possibilities.....

No room for corruption there!

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[NongKhaiKid]

Is there anyone in Thailand who really knows the subject so if this lunacy goes ahead who is going to run the new system ?

The current SRT bosses can't run the outdated system they have already and their management style of constant reference to a potentially non-existent maintenance and up grading schedule coupled with prayer ceremonies to keep the spirit world on side is a joke.

With Thailand's love of patronage, cronyism and " thank you " for loyalty the new system is likely to be headed by political apointees who never even had a model train set yet will be given a full size, high speed one to play with.

[LuckyLew]

"she promised to turn Nong Khai into a hub of the region."

Not even she can be daft enough to believe this

[bigbamboo]

If only all this high speed train nonsense was stopped and the mega loan money earmarked for it was to be spent on something worthwhile that will actually benefit the Thai people in their lifetime then there might even be a case to be made for saddling future generations with this huge debt.

Otherwise it is just sheer madness and all involved should be awarded the Order of the White Elephant.

Edited September 21, 2013 by bigbamboo

[Bagwan]

If only all this high speed train nonsense was stopped and the mega loan money earmarked for it was to be spent on something worthwhile that will actually benefit the Thai people in their lifetime then there might even be a case to be made for saddling future generations with this huge debt.

Otherwise it is just sheer madness and all involved should be awarded the Order of the White Elephant.

Or stamped on by a few.

The Thai understanding of the term trunk route is that is how an elephant feeds itself.

Edited September 21, 2013 by Bagwan

[lapd]

"she promised to turn Nong Khai into a hub of the region."

Not even she can be daft enough to believe this

But the voters of the region are.

Edited September 21, 2013 by lapd

[ratcatcher]

"she promised to turn Nong Khai into a hub of the region."

Not even she can be daft enough to believe this

"Not even she can be daft enough to believe this"

Wanna bet!

[rfukata]

This is news; not the above fantasy caption.

source: Kyodo news 9/19/2013

The outline of Central Japan Railway Co.’s magnetically levitated train project represents a major step in the long-term project, colloquially dubbed the Linear Chuo Shinkansen.

The train, scheduled to enter service in 2027, will whiz by at speeds of up to 500 kph, completing the 286-km trip from Tokyo to Nagoya in just 40 minutes — less than half the time needed by non-floating bullet trains.

While the futuristic project will put another technological feather in Japan’s cap, however, the company is also looking abroad, notably to the United States, to market its technology...

[Rinrada]

This is news; not the above fantasy caption.

source: Kyodo news 9/19/2013

The outline of Central Japan Railway Co.’s magnetically levitated train project represents a major step in the long-term project, colloquially dubbed the Linear Chuo Shinkansen.

The train, scheduled to enter service in 2027, will whiz by at speeds of up to 500 kph, completing the 286-km trip from Tokyo to Nagoya in just 40 minutes — less than half the time needed by non-floating bullet trains.

While the futuristic project will put another technological feather in Japan’s cap, however, the company is also looking abroad, notably to the United States, to market its technology...

The UK Gov is proposing what they term a High Speed connection (HS2) from London to somewhere like Birmingham (Brum) at a cost in the region of... 50 Billion Quid but their idea of HS is about 150 miles an hour....and expected to be completed by something like 2050....eh...WHY Bother.....we will mostly all be rather old or dead by then....

Had a go a couple of years ago on the Shanghai-Pudong Mag L line and ...whaaa.hee..that's the way to go..and the concept has been around for the last 100 years...NOWS...the future

...Forget the ROUND things they only cause friction...bit like our Governments inactivity.....

trying for pic but ac too slow.....bit like Bk-CMs trains

[RubbaJohnny]

Sure there's graft and Vientiane with its new colony of 100,000 chinese will be the hub of the mekhong transhipment zone.

If anyone has used high speed rail they are fine but crashes in China and Spain show they require technical competence.the current spate of derailments are mostly due to poor maintainence which may well be lack or misuse of funds plus the fact most riders pay an uneconomic fare.

The size of the project and cash to be skimmed means it may happen though whether a success and best use of resources.Europeans and Americans have little to teach Thailand about budget discipline.A minatire Japanese solution will be nice a sort of

SHRINKANSEN

[nong38]

And the other 11 provinces and "roadshow" dates are?

[jaiyen]

More time wasting trips for PM Badluck and God knows how many of her bumlickers. Wonder how much all this is going to cost the taxpayers who cant afford to go on the train that will never exist. They dont have any plans at all for the high speed trains, so what sre they going to tell people ? Same old BS..... Trust me.....I believe that .... set up a committee.....will be a hub of ?.....for the people......

[planr]

Is there anyone in Thailand who really knows the subject so if this lunacy goes ahead who is going to run the new system ?

The current SRT bosses can't run the outdated system they have already and their management style of constant reference to a potentially non-existent maintenance and up grading schedule coupled with prayer ceremonies to keep the spirit world on side is a joke.

With Thailand's love of patronage, cronyism and " thank you " for loyalty the new system is likely to be headed by political apointees who never even had a model train set yet will be given a full size, high speed one to play with.

Everything I have heard from people both inside and out is that if built, the operator will absolutely NOT be the SRT nor a subsidiary of it (as the Airport Link is currently being operated as). That said, no real operational models have been presented.

And to those using Sydney-Melbourne, HS1/HS2 in the UK and JRCentral's new maglev, bear in mind that those are hugely ambitious projects in mature markets with less overt corruption (e.g., ease of land acquisition for stations and rights-of-way) that face much more stringent regulations (for better or worse) in coming to fruition, both of which drive up project costs enormously. The other side of the coin is China, and despite a few mishaps, look what they have done with HSR in the last decade, it is pretty incredible...

[xavierr]

The high-speed train deal is expensive and it is marred by lack of transparency. Before they get into a trillion-baht debt Thai people should read the fine print. They will likely see that it is a shady scam designed to make a few building companies and their politician friends rich.

[khunken]

If only they would concentrate on sorting out the current railway system first before embarking on the HSR circus.

Due to the SRT being forced to charge uneconomical fares it is hugely in debt and never has money for anything beyond fixing problems. They have no estimates of the economic viability of HSR and it will have to be heavily subsidised to attract passengers in numbers.

No feasibility studies, cost a fortune to build, cost a fortune to run - just what the doctor (Thaksin) ordered.

[lungmi]

Wonderful this campaign. Pigs can fly. To Mongolia, to Montenegra

o and so on.

[Noistar]

"she promised to turn Nong Khai into a hub of the region."

Not even she can be daft enough to believe this

But the voters of the region are.

Present it right and the voters won't have any problem continuing to tick the right box.

I think understanding the issue is totally unnecessary.

[HannahD]

If only they would concentrate on sorting out the current railway system first before embarking on the HSR circus.

Due to the SRT being forced to charge uneconomical fares it is hugely in debt and never has money for anything beyond fixing problems. They have no estimates of the economic viability of HSR and it will have to be heavily subsidised to attract passengers in numbers.

No feasibility studies, cost a fortune to build, cost a fortune to run - just what the doctor (Thaksin) ordered.

It appears that the original plan in Thailand, as in the western US, was for the RSR to collect rents on its quite valuable real estate adjacent to the railway to help pay for rail service. It was quite probably never envisioned that the railway would be able to operate on fares alone. It would be quite prudent to audit the rent collection to verify that these rents are being used for the originally intended purpose.

[A1Str8]

Oh now they plan a roadshow. Do they plan helping those in need too or they just continue robbing them so they can build the railway?

Sent from one of my devices using the internet

[Noistar]

Oh now they plan a roadshow. Do they plan helping those in need too or they just continue robbing them so they can build the railway?

Sent from one of my devices using the internet

I'd forgotten for a moment that this government had more on its plate than election gimmicks, reconciliation and now, super-loans.

It's just a shame it's all done in the name of democracy. As a poster in another thread opined, Thailand is not mature enough for democracy.

The electorate will have their focus pointed where the government wants. Assuming there was even the remotest interest in politics, the smoke and mirrors would ensure that.

Thailand in 2607? You can only feel for today's children and their children...............

IMHO that is

[phitsanulokjohn]

Plans that either come to nought or half a page of scribbled lines.