Nakhon Ratchasima to be proposed, developed as 'Second Bangkok'

[orchidlady]

How about moving Parliament building to here-as they don't meet that many days a week and the MPs that live in Bangkok can take the high speed trains (when finished) when they go to Parliament. That way streets in Bangkok won't get clogged from demonstrators.

[aguy30]

A high speed railway that will be too expensive for the average Thai to ride with one way will costing perhaps 2 or 3 days pay for many. It will probably be 3 or 4 times the regular bus fare between Korat and Bangkok. This high speed railway will never make enough to pay for itself. It will be just like the current SRT system in 20 or 30 years in total shambles but with newer derelict trains and rails and of course many more wealthy politicians with "new" money.

[inkorat]

Yes, since it is the cross road to all of the North East.

There should not be a flooding problem in Korat with its elevation, but with Thai management and the lack of a master plan it happens.

It used to flood on the west side of the city, but now they just dump their run off water into the next block and think the problem is solved. What they have succeeded in doing is moving the water across the city into a low area that has no natural run off (Hua Talay), instead of moving it into the Moon river basin where it belongs. Really Good Thinking ...

To make Korat boom, just move the army base farther south (lots of vacant army land) and expand the city into this prime developed area next to the city. This is what has limited the growth of Korat, it cannot expand on the south side..

Return Korat's airport back to Korat and put the terminal on hwy 304 (same area). Korat curri=ently does not have a viable domestic airport and it is one of the biggest cities in Thailand. This is crazy, no one wants to drive half way to Burriram to use the old military airbase, where they moved the Korat airport to 15 years ago and then it died a natural death. When the air service was in the city, it was busy and easy to access.

They also really need to add a southern outer ring road, between the the new expanded city area and the new army base that connects to the Suranaree University entrance road on 304 on the west side and continue on the east side to the Korat - Chok Chai 4 lane hwy.

There you have my wish list, but it will never happen, since it is the correct thing to do and make too much sense...

[dighambara]

excellent news

Actually it is odd news, as for many years, Udon Thani has been called the Gatway to the North.

Udon is central Issan, out of the flood region, has highways to most major locations and is where the second US Consulate was for many years.

[Dakling]

Rather than spending a ton of money on a high speed train that none will use, why not simply upgrade the road systems. Resurfacing and expanding capacity of the route into and out of BKK would be a good start and while the highway from Korat to Udon is not too bad, Highway 24 to Ubon is terrible through 1/2 of Burriram, all of Surin and parts of Sisaket. A new highway connecting Korat with Muckdahan would also be good and will be needed with the ever expanding volume of trade comming through the Mukdahan-Savanaket crossing. Improving the highway through Chachangsao and Sa Kaew to Poipet would also be good.

Also take some of the money you would throw away on the trains and expand the domestic airline service to include direct flights between large provincial capitals without having to go to a BKK hub. If you want to invest in rail try to get more bulk goods on the rails and off the roads. Have a large contained loading yard at the boarder crossings and get the goods off the road and onto already existing rail lines.

Oh and of course line your pockets with 30% to 50% of the funds.

Edited October 12, 2013 by Dakling

[willyumiii]

Why not focus on developing the current bigger cities. Something a combo of Phuket+Bangkok would be amazing. Tall buildings, ocean, mountains, beach, big city.... designers paradise. Only thing im missing here in Phuket is the big city variety and entertainment with a Metro in where I can walk everywhere. Like a Miami but in thailand.

I know its a pipe dream but its what I want.

STOP!

Bangkok and Pattaya are Farang-Thailand, Developed to make the non Thais more comfortable and willing to come or stay and spend their money. And for Thais who wish they were less Thai.

They have been developed enough, maybe too much!

It is time Thailand spent money developing the real Thailand for the benefit of the Thai people.

Korat is Real Thailand.

Hats off to the Thai government for thinking about the good of the real Thai people!

[Dakling]

STOP!

Bangkok and Pattaya are Farang-Thailand, Developed to make the non Thais more comfortable and willing to come or stay and spend their money. And for Thais who wish they were less Thai.

They have been developed enough, maybe too much!

It is time Thailand spent money developing the real Thailand for the benefit of the Thai people.

Korat is Real Thailand.

Hats off to the Thai government for thinking about the good of the real Thai people!

I wish people would get off this "real Thailand" thing. Thailand, like pretty much every country larger than Singapore, is a melange of culture and lifestyles. There is no "real Thailand" there is simply Thailand. An Issan rice farmer is no more or less Thai than the young scion of one of the ultra rich Thai families. I think that if you told some Thai who works in a factory on an industrial estate that he is not a "real Thai" because he is not off planting rice somewhere he would differ with your opinion (perhaps violently).

I agree with the point I think you are trying to make that the government has an obligation to focus on its poorest citizens but the "real Thailand" approach always gets under my skin.

Rant over.

[skyaslimit]

cough cough cough stupid cough cough cough

Strepsils are good for smokers cough

sent by skyaslimit using thaivisa forum mobile app.

[Muhendis]

I think Thailand already has its second capital. Isn't it called Dubai?

[pacovl46]

This is not really news. The current government wants to borrow big money to build railways. The folks, however, will continue to use busses. Cheaper and more flexible. Look at most other countries in the world and learn. Except politicians (not only here) don’t want to learn, they just want to borrow money and enrich themselves.

Thailand should focus on getting the business side of the economy over on rails, the rubber, rice, cassava, eucalyptus etc. The roads in Isan are clogged with 18 wheelers.

Unless you're buying a sleeper ticket the train will always be cheaper than the busses. Of course busses are more flexible because you can get off wherever you want, but trains are definitely safer, you can walk around, you can eat something in the restaurant carriage and you have generally more space than on a bus. And what countries are they supposed to look at? Thailand has the best public transport system in the world in terms of availability. It might not be the best quality system, but you can virtually get anywhere at anytime, and that's something other countries should take a look at! In Germany there aren't any busses at all in the nighttime, plus you can't just get on and off wherever you want there either and there also won't be any motorcycle taxis waiting for you at your busstop to take you home 24/7.

I agree with you. The availablilty here is great. But these high-speed trains are not the solution. The ticket price will be tenfold what you pay today, and even at that rate, they’ll lose money like crazy. And regarding safety, that's last on the list of Thai passengers...

I guess that depends on the number of people using the train wether or not the trains will lose money. China, Japan and France have had high-speed trains for numerous years and they're still operational. I'm also pretty sure, that these trains in Thailand will be built by oversea companies and they will build them to current safety standards.

[pacovl46]

This is not really news. The current government wants to borrow big money to build railways. The folks, however, will continue to use busses. Cheaper and more flexible. Look at most other countries in the world and learn. Except politicians (not only here) dont want to learn, they just want to borrow money and enrich themselves.

Thailand should focus on getting the business side of the economy over on rails, the rubber, rice, cassava, eucalyptus etc. The roads in Isan are clogged with 18 wheelers.

Rail systems are important to transfer people. The finest rail system in the world is in Hong Kong without question, the trains are very very frequent and always full and so cheap. I love going on them it is so well organised. You very rarely here of accidents on the HK rail system. The system is so easy to understand for visitors. The British engineering again. And the airport, what a feat of engineering reclaiming the land from the sea and building the finest airport in the world. The train system at the airport is amazing and into the city, no drivers all auto.

Thailand would never be able to have systems like this as they would do it them selves, no outside expertise to many ministers would want so many high ups in top invented positions, like minister of train lights, minister of toilets, minister of ticket systems, minister if train batteries etc etc.

Load of bull shit from another Falange

Pity the UK do not follow their system in the UK.

"Thailand would never be able to have systems like this as they would do it them selves"

I totally disagree. Thailand won't build these trains and tracks by themselves. They will have people from the company that makes these trains come over and oversee/supervise the whole thing and build it according to that company's specifications just like they did with the elevated tollways, the BTS and the MRT. Also, while I can totally see your point and the Thai-Hammer-And-Nail system is pretty obvious in Thailand they managed to build a lot of very modern buildings, skyscrapers and shopping malls that rival the best anywhere in the world all by themselves. Wether or not you'll believe it there's Thais out there that know exactly what they're doing.

Edited October 12, 2013 by pacovl46

[moradave]

Obviously, any development in infrastructure will benefit Thailand. But is it quite alarming, how much money goes in to the development of the Northern part of Thailand. It would seem more prudent to spread the investments in infrastructure to the North and the South. Especially, the South is way behind in any decent development of the infrastructure, compared to the amount of Baht invested in the North.

I agree, Thailand doesn't need another Bangkok. It needs more "Chiang Mais"

located throughout the country. Look at the US model of de-centralization.

[Dag Ekeberg]

This is not really news. The current government wants to borrow big money to build railways. The folks, however, will continue to use busses. Cheaper and more flexible. Look at most other countries in the world and learn. Except politicians (not only here) don’t want to learn, they just want to borrow money and enrich themselves.

Thailand should focus on getting the business side of the economy over on rails, the rubber, rice, cassava, eucalyptus etc. The roads in Isan are clogged with 18 wheelers.

Unless you're buying a sleeper ticket the train will always be cheaper than the busses. Of course busses are more flexible because you can get off wherever you want, but trains are definitely safer, you can walk around, you can eat something in the restaurant carriage and you have generally more space than on a bus. And what countries are they supposed to look at? Thailand has the best public transport system in the world in terms of availability. It might not be the best quality system, but you can virtually get anywhere at anytime, and that's something other countries should take a look at! In Germany there aren't any busses at all in the nighttime, plus you can't just get on and off wherever you want there either and there also won't be any motorcycle taxis waiting for you at your busstop to take you home 24/7.

I agree with you. The availablilty here is great. But these high-speed trains are not the solution. The ticket price will be tenfold what you pay today, and even at that rate, they’ll lose money like crazy. And regarding safety, that's last on the list of Thai passengers...

I guess that depends on the number of people using the train wether or not the trains will lose money. China, Japan and France have had high-speed trains for numerous years and they're still operational. I'm also pretty sure, that these trains in Thailand will be built by oversea companies and they will build them to current safety standards.

Not overseas companies. Chinese companies will build these rails, possibly involving barter with rice and rubber…

A situation ripe for… well, you know what. But hey, it's only 2 trillion baht on the line for the next 7 years (according to the Nation).

Japan and central Europe are densely populated with really wealthy people. What Thailand needs is a rail system that can transport raw material, not people.

[billd766]

Obviously, any development in infrastructure will benefit Thailand. But is it quite alarming, how much money goes in to the development of the Northern part of Thailand. It would seem more prudent to spread the investments in infrastructure to the North and the South. Especially, the South is way behind in any decent development of the infrastructure, compared to the amount of Baht invested in the North.

Could that be because the South does not vote PTP?

[wayned]

They're already off to a good start, floods are already in place:

flood Korat.doc

[Dumu Ali]

Korat the hub of Isaan

Korat might be an Isaan Hub or the main hub but Ubon is the Eastern Esarn Hub and Udorn the hub of Northern Esarn

[kamahele]

They've been talking about using Nakhon Ratchasima as a second capital for years. This predates the high speed train idea. As I commute to Korat every week, the high speed train would be a good thing for me, however, just having a safe, slower train would be ideal with less stops. I drive now as it is so much faster than taking the train or bus. Honolulu where I am from is the capital of the state of Hawaii and the local county and they have built a second capital city, west of the old city where there was more open space and cheaper land. Some government offices were moved out there, a second university was developed there and businesses and homeowners were courted to move there as well. It was cheaper than doing business in Honolulu. Now they are finally building a rail system to operate between both cities. It works. Korat is already the third largest city in Thailand and it has lots of undeveloped land around the edges ready for development.

[Muhendis]

They've been talking about using Nakhon Ratchasima as a second capital for years. This predates the high speed train idea. As I commute to Korat every week, the high speed train would be a good thing for me, however, just having a safe, slower train would be ideal with less stops. I drive now as it is so much faster than taking the train or bus. Honolulu where I am from is the capital of the state of Hawaii and the local county and they have built a second capital city, west of the old city where there was more open space and cheaper land. Some government offices were moved out there, a second university was developed there and businesses and homeowners were courted to move there as well. It was cheaper than doing business in Honolulu. Now they are finally building a rail system to operate between both cities. It works. Korat is already the third largest city in Thailand and it has lots of undeveloped land around the edges ready for development.

Because of arguments between Sydney and Melbourne over which was the more suitable, they did something similar in Australia except that Canberra is the only capital of a much vaster country.

[SantiSuk]

A high speed railway that will be too expensive for the average Thai to ride with one way will costing perhaps 2 or 3 days pay for many. It will probably be 3 or 4 times the regular bus fare between Korat and Bangkok. This high speed railway will never make enough to pay for itself. It will be just like the current SRT system in 20 or 30 years in total shambles but with newer derelict trains and rails and of course many more wealthy politicians with "new" money.

Typical response from those who would rather concrete over the planet

The same has been said about virtually every significant railway project ever mooted. Since Korat is a bit too close to the capital for flights I suspect that a reasonable proportion of those taking buses will not be the poor peasants portrayed here.

Provided that they plan to include economic secure long term parking at the rail hub in Korat the rail link could draw in significant traffic from elsewhere in southern Isaan.

Edited October 14, 2013 by SantiSuk

[SantiSuk]

Yes, since it is the cross road to all of the North East.

There should not be a flooding problem in Korat with its elevation, but with Thai management and the lack of a master plan it happens.

It used to flood on the west side of the city, but now they just dump their run off water into the next block and think the problem is solved. What they have succeeded in doing is moving the water across the city into a low area that has no natural run off (Hua Talay), instead of moving it into the Moon river basin where it belongs. Really Good Thinking ...

To make Korat boom, just move the army base farther south (lots of vacant army land) and expand the city into this prime developed area next to the city. This is what has limited the growth of Korat, it cannot expand on the south side..

Return Korat's airport back to Korat and put the terminal on hwy 304 (same area). Korat curri=ently does not have a viable domestic airport and it is one of the biggest cities in Thailand. This is crazy, no one wants to drive half way to Burriram to use the old military airbase, where they moved the Korat airport to 15 years ago and then it died a natural death. When the air service was in the city, it was busy and easy to access.

They also really need to add a southern outer ring road, between the the new expanded city area and the new army base that connects to the Suranaree University entrance road on 304 on the west side and continue on the east side to the Korat - Chok Chai 4 lane hwy.

There you have my wish list, but it will never happen, since it is the correct thing to do and make too much sense...

Its your damn water - you keep it.

We don't need any more in meuang Ubon (Moon River overflows dramatically there every year) and meuang Sisaket

[Gonsalviz]

excellent news

Actually it is odd news, as for many years, Udon Thani has been called the Gatway to the North.

Udon is central Issan, out of the flood region, has highways to most major locations and is where the second US Consulate was for many years.

Actually, Udon was supposed to get this makeover several years ago and it is out of the flood zone because of a major drainage system installed a few years back.

[Gonsalviz]

Why not focus on developing the current bigger cities. Something a combo of Phuket+Bangkok would be amazing. Tall buildings, ocean, mountains, beach, big city.... designers paradise. Only thing im missing here in Phuket is the big city variety and entertainment with a Metro in where I can walk everywhere. Like a Miami but in thailand.

I know its a pipe dream but its what I want.

STOP!

Bangkok and Pattaya are Farang-Thailand, Developed to make the non Thais more comfortable and willing to come or stay and spend their money. And for Thais who wish they were less Thai.

They have been developed enough, maybe too much!

It is time Thailand spent money developing the real Thailand for the benefit of the Thai people.

Korat is Real Thailand.

Hats off to the Thai government for thinking about the good of the real Thai people!

Great statement but the politicians are not thinking of the Thai people. They thinking about lining their pockets.

[belg]

a mcdonald and a starbucks in every small village

[willyumiii]

a mcdonald and a starbucks in every small village

Coming soon..one of each on every corner, just like 7 -11s !

[Thai at Heart]

Yes, since it is the cross road to all of the North East.

There should not be a flooding problem in Korat with its elevation, but with Thai management and the lack of a master plan it happens.

It used to flood on the west side of the city, but now they just dump their run off water into the next block and think the problem is solved. What they have succeeded in doing is moving the water across the city into a low area that has no natural run off (Hua Talay), instead of moving it into the Moon river basin where it belongs. Really Good Thinking ...

To make Korat boom, just move the army base farther south (lots of vacant army land) and expand the city into this prime developed area next to the city. This is what has limited the growth of Korat, it cannot expand on the south side..

Return Korat's airport back to Korat and put the terminal on hwy 304 (same area). Korat curri=ently does not have a viable domestic airport and it is one of the biggest cities in Thailand. This is crazy, no one wants to drive half way to Burriram to use the old military airbase, where they moved the Korat airport to 15 years ago and then it died a natural death. When the air service was in the city, it was busy and easy to access.

They also really need to add a southern outer ring road, between the the new expanded city area and the new army base that connects to the Suranaree University entrance road on 304 on the west side and continue on the east side to the Korat - Chok Chai 4 lane hwy.

There you have my wish list, but it will never happen, since it is the correct thing to do and make too much sense...

The new highway north is going through chaiyaphum.

Traffic on the mitrapaap going south from Khon Kaen will go that way, or north from bangkok. Korat is going to lose a huge amount of trade from that.

[selftaopath]

About time they done something outside of Bangkok, they will of course need to expand the infrastructure conveniently on land they just bought for peanuts

Yes.... could be that the govt "hogs" are using ill gotten gains to buy land cheaply and then sell it to "the govt" for a big profit. lol Humnnnnnn I wonder???? Possible??? LOL

[selftaopath]

A decentralized government would benefit the people of Thailand but those at the trough would NEVER allow this. So what does it really matter where the "big city" is?