PM initiates idea to build high-speed trains to Pattaya and Hua Hin

[baboon]

I thought the current administration were in power merely to prevent civil war and restore democratic, civilian government within the next 12 months before stepping thankfully aside. Why then all this talk of seven year plans and huge infrastructure projects?

[Taworn]

We need to clarify what they mean by "high speed train", anything over walking pace is high speed to many in Thailand.

They cannot be talking about real high speed trains as they need regular quality maintenance to keep the system safe, otherwise we will be reading about some exciting train crashes.

Malaysia's newish electric train system could serve as a model.

While not truly "high speed", they are plenty quick at averaging 140 kph (which is a heck of lot faster than currently).

Clean, quiet, convenient and comfortable, the shorter runs to Pattaya and Hua Hin would be ideal for them. It would alleviate a lot of the unnecessary taxis and traffic on the highways.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Train_Service

[Taworn]

To facilitate tourism?

10 bazillion taxis going to hua him and pattaya every day and he thinks a train can facilitate tourism?

It is defined by an easy and not detrimental (eg. not "10 bazillion taxis" on the roads) public transportation method.

An efficient train system is seriously needed for those trips.

Not high-speed rail, but higher-speed rail (as exemplified in previous post about Malaysia's ETS trains) would be a huge boost for tourism.

[SABloke]

A train to Pattaya could be economically viable, but I don't see the point of building one to Hua-Hin as A: There is already a service connecting BKK and HH (not highspeed, but 3+ hours is not a lifetime) B: Tourist numbers aren't as consistent as Sin City, because C: Most HH tourists (a much higher percentage than Pattaya) are Thais who travel there mostly for weekend trips and usually use their own cars.

[sadako]

just had a busta rhymes moment

[Rod Wallop]

40 years to build an airport without toilets

[Estrada]

PM initiates idea to build high-speed trains to Pattaya and Hua Hin

They have beating this dead horse for 10 or 12 years now haven't they?

Around 20years ago I was involved in this project. Siemens got an M.O.U. but next Government stopped the project.

[NongKhaiKid]

To facilitate tourism?

What is this idiot talking about. 10 bazillion taxis going to hua him and pattaya every day and he thinks a train can facilitate tourism?

And what are the locals supposed to drive when they get where they are going? Who takes a train when it is a 2 hour drive to the beach?

This man really is a fool

Facilitate tourism, does this mean for international tourists with tickets at the appropriate inflated price for the privileged of high speed travel ?

It's going to take a massive amount of tourists to break even far less a profit because Thais won't pay for pricey tickets unless of course there's a special deal for them and even then !

Over the years here when talking to Thais about travel, say to Bangkok, all but a few have said they take the cheapest option possible.

[oneday]

Something constructive from the office of the PM. What a surprise.

[kannot]

wonder how long before there is a hi speed crash involving a car/cow/bike/dog/elephant/truck/shortcut route scenario?

[ldiablo]

Yes build as many high speed trains as we can and while we're at it lets make other countries pay for it.

[LivinLOS]

Perhaps simply making the current trains work, and not jump the rails every few months.. Would be a better idea..

Takes around 12 hours (without delays) CNX to BKK.. I can do it in a car in 6.5 or so..

[lildragon]

Might wanna get tourism back, filled with 'quality' tourists, before building such things eh?

[Borzandy]

Good new, high-speed train will be highly dangerous...

[Briggsy]

I imagine the bus companies would have something to say about this "clearly well thought out" idea.

Tomorrow the PM will order a Thai moon base to be set up.

I see an army silent counter-coup coming soon.

[AlQaholic]

I am sure they will select a supplier with a track width incompatible with any other rail system in the world, just to be uniquely Thai. And then when the new high speed track from China arrives it will be incompatible with Thai tracks, so only Thai trains can move on the tracks inside Thailand, with all the trouble of switching trains etc.

In addition the stations for the Thai high speed in Chiang-Mai will probably be located at the other end of the town where the train station for the trains from China arrives. So you will have to pay a fixed fee mafia taxi to get to the Thai train station.

[bunuel]

We need to clarify what they mean by "high speed train", anything over walking pace is high speed to many in Thailand.

They cannot be talking about real high speed trains as they need regular quality maintenance to keep the system safe, otherwise we will be reading about some exciting train crashes.

Malaysia's newish electric train system could serve as a model.

While not truly "high speed", they are plenty quick at averaging 140 kph (which is a heck of lot faster than currently).

Clean, quiet, convenient and comfortable, the shorter runs to Pattaya and Hua Hin would be ideal for them. It would alleviate a lot of the unnecessary taxis and traffic on the highways.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Train_Service

Precisely. And what some nay sayers are missing is that a rail link would make Pattaya et al

suburbs of Bangkok, and alleviate some of pressure on the city - a lot of people would leave

Bangkok if they could!

[rickirs]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

His intentions and thoughts are good.

Thailand has to join the more technologically advanced countries.

And it will be great for tourism and also for Thais.

What I'm worried about and expressed my worries before when Yingluck initiated the high speed train introduction to Thailand, is the operation, handling and maintenance of these trains.

I wish, I could trust the Thais more and have more confidence in them..........but again I could be wrong........as many good posters remind me constantly.

My worthless opinion is try to upgrade the existing trains, maintain the trucks properly. and do something about rail crossing safety and then look to the high speed trains.

So 'thoughts' are good huh?

Well lets do the math shall we.

Bangkok to Pattaya ~150Km

High speed rail speed definition 250km/hr, therefore assuming no intermediate stops a journey time of 36 mins

Standard gauge top speed definition 190km/hr, therefore assuming no intermediate stops journey time of 47 mins

Cost of HSR vs Standard Gauge according to the Swedish study (de Rus et al., 2009) 2x.

So, well thought out huh twice the cost for a maximum time saving of 11 mins.

Maybe we need to 'think' before accepting all that is said is Gospel truth. Maybe in the Chinese model there is a justification, but in the real world not a jot of truth

"Maybe in the Chinese model there is a justification, but in the real world not a jot of truth."

Exactly. China is a huge country with nearly 1.4 billion people and hundreds of large cities and a massive industrial complex. Thailand OTOH is a small, emerging nation with few really large cities, a medium sized industrial base located in a few strategic areas and less than 70 million people.. Largely the balance is rural and agricultural. Not exactly the ideal base for a massive investment in HST.

However, as the above poster rightly points out, there is definitely a need for a modernization of Thailand's antiquated rail network and bringing it into the 20th century. Once this is done, Thailand will be able to unite with the railway coming down from China and with that, supposedly coming up from Singapore?

The 20th century ENDED on December 31, 2000. We are now fifteen years into the 21st century.

[Ricardo]

I imagine the bus companies would have something to say about this "clearly well thought out" idea.

Tomorrow the PM will order a Thai moon base to be set up.

I see an army silent counter-coup coming soon.

But the Irish already got to the Moon, according to Spike Milligan, and found Harrods were already there too !

Rather than some fantastical express-train, a more-achieveable improvement might be to run more than one train-per-day to Pattaya, on the existing track ?

[Monkeyrobot]

His intentions and thoughts are good.

Thailand has to join the more technologically advanced countries.

And it will be great for tourism and also for Thais.

What I'm worried about and expressed my worries before when Yingluck initiated the high speed train introduction to Thailand, is the operation, handling and maintenance of these trains.

I wish, I could trust the Thais more and have more confidence in them..........but again I could be wrong........as many good posters remind me constantly.

My worthless opinion is try to upgrade the existing trains, maintain the trucks properly. and do something about rail crossing safety and then look to the high speed trains

What is your definition of high speed?? It's only 120Km to Pattaya . At least you did not call them a goverment in this post.

[houlicha]

Luxury, low speed rail would be fine. Think pub car, pole dancing car, massage car...

[Godders]

Last time I took a train to Bangkok from Cha Am, we hit a cow which had strayed on to the unprotected line. Luckily, we were only travelling at a snail's pace, so the train was not badly damaged or derailed and we were able to continue our journey after the minced beef had been removed from the tracks.

Now imagine what may have happened if we had been travelling at 200 kilometers an hour on one of the proposed high speed trains. . .

[recycler]

With the rails of the airport link being of inferior steel quality and many of it's track laying loose due to broken bolts I would really worry when they go longer distance...

[houlicha]

Speaking of broken bolts, I retired from the fastener industry a few years back. I have visited most of the major fastener manufacturers in Thailand, including the premier automotive supplier. Their grasp of proper heat treat procedures is tenuous at best.

[rickirs]

"might be a joint venture in a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). Thai and foreign investors were both welcomed"

Whoever the investors might be, you can be sure the Junta government will not be a major investor. After 8 months in power it has failed to make any substantial government investment in Thailand's infrastructure. The nation has sufficient debt to GDP ratio to do so with little negative economic impact to the economy. But Gen. Prayuth runs the government balance sheet as if it were his personal household - little or no deficit spending. On the other hand he has no problem borrowing from foreign governments such as with the dual rail project with the Chinese and essentially selling out Thai sovereignty for decades to come.

[basinboy]

Last time I took a train to Bangkok from Cha Am, we hit a cow which had strayed on to the unprotected line. Luckily, we were only travelling at a snail's pace, so the train was not badly damaged or derailed and we were able to continue our journey after the minced beef had been removed from the tracks.

Now imagine what may have happened if we had been travelling at 200 kilometers an hour on one of the proposed high speed trains. . .

I imagine they may plan to erect fences alongside the tracks.

[waders123]

Call me pessimistic here, but wouldn't it be the logical first step: Create a road system infrastructure to accommodate the trains coming into this two resort cities prior to building the rail system? Once you start bring in this amount of passengers to a destination, chaos will surely ensue if there is no means to disperse passengers in a timely matter. This scenario is like getting the cart before the horse.

[djjamie]

Having bought an investment property in Pattaya I am salivating at the mouth at the potential returns on my investment if they build a high speed train to Pattaya preferable with a stop right at Pratumnak hill!

I will not be traveling on the train though. Working in the maintenance industry with Thai's I have seen first hand how much respect they have for preventative maintenance. None…They are experts at reactive maintenance however which is not a good combination with trains traveling at over 200km/hr.

[Briggsy]

Whilst there is only one passenger train per day to Pattaya and on to Pluta Luang, numerous freight trains use that line every day and take the spur to Laem Chabang's docksides and oil terminals.

This is a major consideration in any expansion of rail lines to the Eastern region.

[recycler]

Last time I took a train to Bangkok from Cha Am, we hit a cow which had strayed on to the unprotected line. Luckily, we were only travelling at a snail's pace, so the train was not badly damaged or derailed and we were able to continue our journey after the minced beef had been removed from the tracks.

Now imagine what may have happened if we had been travelling at 200 kilometers an hour on one of the proposed high speed trains. . .

I imagine they may plan to erect fences alongside the tracks.

They will however forget to make a plan for maintenance on those fences.....