Govt putting all electric train projects into high gear

[Lite Beer]

Govt putting all electric train projects into high gear

BANGKOK, 21 March 2015 (NNT) – The Prime Minister is adamant his administration has been expediting all pending electric train projects in the Bangkok Metropolis, anticipating their completion within the year 2020.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha stated in his televised public address that the construction of electric rail lines across Bangkok and parts of its vicinities is currently progressing quickly. He noted that the Purple Line Bang Yai-Bang Sue is in the process of system installation and the test run is planned for early 2016. As for the MRT Blue Line extension, he said it is likely to be ready for service in 2018.

Meanwhile, Gen Prayut added that a target has been set for all other projects which are now underway to be finished and put in operation no later than 2020. These projects consist of the Green Line extension, both on the southern section Bearing-Samut Prakan-Bang Pu and the northern section Mo Chit-Saphan Mai-Khu Khot, the Orange Line Rama 9-Min Buri, the Pink Line Khae Rai-Min Buri, and the Red Line Rangsit-Bang Sue.

In regard to the high-speed rail system, the premier disclosed that the government will initially consider short-haul routes between Bangkok and popular destinations, such as Pattaya, Rayong and Hua Hin, due to much interest from private investors. For the Bangkok-Chiang Mai route, he said Japan is keen on investing in the project and the Transport Ministry has been assigned to study the joint venture in detail.

-- NNT 2015-03-21

[JOC]

If it can better the traffic situation in Bangkok: Go for it!!

[Costas2008]

Another good initiative from our Prime Minister.

Thailand is in desperate need of good and modern railways.

And this time I am confident that the funds required will be spend wisely and without corruption involved.

Not as Yingluck wanted to borrow trillions just to cover the shambles of the rice vote buying scheme.

Good days are here for Thailand.

[JOC]

Another good initiative from our Prime Minister.

Thailand is in desperate need of good and modern railways.

And this time I am confident that the funds required will be spend wisely and without corruption involved.

Not as Yingluck wanted to borrow trillions just to cover the shambles of the rice vote buying scheme.

Good days are here for Thailand.

If nothing else, I have to admire your stamina!!

[Costas2008]

Another good initiative from our Prime Minister.

Thailand is in desperate need of good and modern railways.

And this time I am confident that the funds required will be spend wisely and without corruption involved.

Not as Yingluck wanted to borrow trillions just to cover the shambles of the rice vote buying scheme.

Good days are here for Thailand.

If nothing else, I have to admire your stamina!!

Hey JOC, you are not bad either.

Sometimes I disagree with your statements, but overall you are a good man.

[chainarong]

Whatever the dream always remember the bottom line and when in operation double it.

[DrTuner]

Come get it boys, the trough is open!

[Shawn0001]

Another good initiative from our Prime Minister.

Thailand is in desperate need of good and modern railways.

And this time I am confident that the funds required will be spend wisely and without corruption involved.

Not as Yingluck wanted to borrow trillions just to cover the shambles of the rice vote buying scheme.

Good days are here for Thailand.

What initiative from the Prime Minister? The announcement that the completion dates are now to be later than planned? These are projects he has had nothing to do with, projects, some of which were started under Yinglucks government! Are they still good ideas in your opinion now that you know that some of them were thought of under Yinglucks government?

As for the "rice vote buying scheme", you might be interested to learn just how well the very same scheme went for the Thai economy under Thaksin. Farming is always a bit of a gamble, they won the first bet but lost the second, however it was just that, a gamble with the Thai economy, not a way to buy farmers votes. If there had of been a poor rice crop abroad they would have done well again, unfortunately other countries had a bumper crop and it went very badly. Try to read outside of the oppositions propaganda and you might just learn something.

[Thian]

There is a major problem for the purple line, i pass that area every week and noticed that they are replacing the whole brandnew concrete road under the mrt. They replace a small piece ever day, i wonder what went wrong there.

[Muhendis]

There is a major problem for the purple line, i pass that area every week and noticed that they are replacing the whole brandnew concrete road under the mrt. They replace a small piece ever day, i wonder what went wrong there.

I might be at fault here but isn't the mrt below ground?

Perhaps thats what went wrong?

[orange31]

When Yinluck's government came up with these initiatives I thought to myself 'Here we go, another few trillion Baht is going to be stolen from public money.' And now... I'm thinking exactly the same

[Thian]

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There is a major problem for the purple line, i pass that area every week and noticed that they are replacing the whole brandnew concrete road under the mrt. They replace a small piece ever day, i wonder what went wrong there.

I might be at fault here but isn't the mrt below ground?

Perhaps thats what went wrong?

It is confusing but i just learned that the purple line is a skytrain run by the MRT (metrocompany). Anybody correct me if i'm wrong.

The thing is that the road was replaced after the skytrain was finished but now since many months they are opening the new built road piece by piece and pouring new concrete the same day. I guess something went wrong there. It's the piece of road between namwongwan road and bang bua thong.

[Thian]

When Yinluck's government came up with these initiatives I thought to myself 'Here we go, another few trillion Baht is going to be stolen from public money.' And now... I'm thinking exactly the same

Well the trafficjams in bangkok are soo bad that the skytrains should have been built a decade ago all over the city.

Whatever it costs, this is what bangkok needs. Every other metropole in Asia also has a good skytrain/metro system.

[trainman34014]

This Guy spends a lot of time talking about spending money for one huge infrastructure project after another.....but how many have actually been started ? Seems to me the only 'spending' that is going on is verbal spending and we have yet to see a single sod turned.

Wake me up around mid-century and i'll have a look and see what's been done !

[Thian]

This Guy spends a lot of time talking about spending money for one huge infrastructure project after another.....but how many have actually been started ? Seems to me the only 'spending' that is going on is verbal spending and we have yet to see a single sod turned.

Wake me up around mid-century and i'll have a look and see what's been done !

I don't get it, you mean you didn't see the new skytrain structures above the roads? They are everywhere now!. At Viphawadeeroad they work full speed, day and night. After it's finished then sure it will be a great improvement for bangkok.

[Chris Lawrence]

Everyone is interested in investing in projects like this; but at what cost. So what are the Governments figures on the cost?

Good headline but no meat?

When did Costa become a citizen of Thailand? 'Another good initiative from our Prime Minister'?

[15Peter20]

I think the military just want more vantage points from which to 'control' future demonstrators. Worked well last time....

[heybruce]

So the focus is on rail projects that benefit Bangkok. We're definitely going to pre-Thaksin days, when the Thai government existed to serve Bangkok. Of course to maintain this they can't allow a government elected by the majority of Thais.

[RickBradford]

Every other metropole in Asia also has a good skytrain/metro system.

I can see you've never been to Jakarta. Or Ho Chi Minh city. Or Hanoi. Or Mumbai. Or Manila. Or ......

[Thian]

Every other metropole in Asia also has a good skytrain/metro system.

I can see you've never been to Jakarta. Or Ho Chi Minh city. Or Hanoi. Or Mumbai. Or Manila. Or ......

I have been to Jakarta and Mumbai and Manilla but won't go back there because they are inferior compared to Bangkok.

Serious Metropoles have good public transport. The new skytrain plans are nothing new in case you upcountryboys didn't know that. The plans are more then 6-7 years old and since then they are being built.

Due to the protests last year the construction has been delayed and that's what the General is trying to speed up now.

If bangkok doesn't get better transport then all salaries here will go up because people loose too much time in traffic. Is that too hard to understand? It is slowing down the development of thailand in general.

[heybruce]

Every other metropole in Asia also has a good skytrain/metro system.

I can see you've never been to Jakarta. Or Ho Chi Minh city. Or Hanoi. Or Mumbai. Or Manila. Or ......

I have been to Jakarta and Mumbai and Manilla but won't go back there because they are inferior compared to Bangkok.

Serious Metropoles have good public transport. The new skytrain plans are nothing new in case you upcountryboys didn't know that. The plans are more then 6-7 years old and since then they are being built.

Due to the protests last year the construction has been delayed and that's what the General is trying to speed up now.

If bangkok doesn't get better transport then all salaries here will go up because people loose too much time in traffic. Is that too hard to understand? It is slowing down the development of thailand in general.

Of course one could argue that focusing on the infrastructure in Bangkok and neglecting the infrastructure in the rest of Thailand is holding up the development of Thailand in general. That's what the World Bank concluded in 2012. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/05/10/thailand-public-finance-management-review-report

[Thian]

Every other metropole in Asia also has a good skytrain/metro system.

I can see you've never been to Jakarta. Or Ho Chi Minh city. Or Hanoi. Or Mumbai. Or Manila. Or ......

I have been to Jakarta and Mumbai and Manilla but won't go back there because they are inferior compared to Bangkok.

Serious Metropoles have good public transport. The new skytrain plans are nothing new in case you upcountryboys didn't know that. The plans are more then 6-7 years old and since then they are being built.

Due to the protests last year the construction has been delayed and that's what the General is trying to speed up now.

If bangkok doesn't get better transport then all salaries here will go up because people loose too much time in traffic. Is that too hard to understand? It is slowing down the development of thailand in general.

Of course one could argue that focusing on the infrastructure in Bangkok and neglecting the infrastructure in the rest of Thailand is holding up the development of Thailand in general. That's what the World Bank concluded in 2012. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/05/10/thailand-public-finance-management-review-report

Yes but it's also between bangkok and chiang mai. Many tourists want to go there as well and a fast train can also transport loads of fruit/vegy to bangkok.

The old train is romantic though but at night you can't enjoy the view.

Thailand would be a much better place with fast trains and skytrains all over bangkok. Also for tourists who won't have problems with taxi's anymore. It's the taxi's, minibus, bahtbus, big bus who congest the traffic in BKK. I will be happy if we have less of them and faster transport. A fast good train to Phuket would also be nice so i agree with the general.

[phoenixdoglover]

More light rail in Bangkok is great. The General is pushing it. Any PM would push it.

High speed service to Pattaya and Hua Hin is dumb. Better conventional service would be sufficient and less costly, which would free up funds for a general rail system upgrade.

[BSJ]

The PLA are always practicing moving things like tanks, trucks, troops. With standard gauge railways far and wide they can practice further afield.

[rubl]

Every other metropole in Asia also has a good skytrain/metro system.

I can see you've never been to Jakarta. Or Ho Chi Minh city. Or Hanoi. Or Mumbai. Or Manila. Or ......

I have been to Jakarta and Mumbai and Manilla but won't go back there because they are inferior compared to Bangkok.

Serious Metropoles have good public transport. The new skytrain plans are nothing new in case you upcountryboys didn't know that. The plans are more then 6-7 years old and since then they are being built.

Due to the protests last year the construction has been delayed and that's what the General is trying to speed up now.

If bangkok doesn't get better transport then all salaries here will go up because people loose too much time in traffic. Is that too hard to understand? It is slowing down the development of thailand in general.

Of course one could argue that focusing on the infrastructure in Bangkok and neglecting the infrastructure in the rest of Thailand is holding up the development of Thailand in general. That's what the World Bank concluded in 2012. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/05/10/thailand-public-finance-management-review-report

Absolutely. That's why the current government has put back into the National Budget the yearly instalments for the upto 2020 plan for dual tracking apart from the normal Road maintenance which also somehow had moved from normal MoT budget into the 'InfraStructure Plan" of the previous government

[heybruce]

I have been to Jakarta and Mumbai and Manilla but won't go back there because they are inferior compared to Bangkok.

Serious Metropoles have good public transport. The new skytrain plans are nothing new in case you upcountryboys didn't know that. The plans are more then 6-7 years old and since then they are being built.

Due to the protests last year the construction has been delayed and that's what the General is trying to speed up now.

If bangkok doesn't get better transport then all salaries here will go up because people loose too much time in traffic. Is that too hard to understand? It is slowing down the development of thailand in general.

Of course one could argue that focusing on the infrastructure in Bangkok and neglecting the infrastructure in the rest of Thailand is holding up the development of Thailand in general. That's what the World Bank concluded in 2012. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/05/10/thailand-public-finance-management-review-report

Yes but it's also between bangkok and chiang mai. Many tourists want to go there as well and a fast train can also transport loads of fruit/vegy to bangkok.

The old train is romantic though but at night you can't enjoy the view.

Thailand would be a much better place with fast trains and skytrains all over bangkok. Also for tourists who won't have problems with taxi's anymore. It's the taxi's, minibus, bahtbus, big bus who congest the traffic in BKK. I will be happy if we have less of them and faster transport. A fast good train to Phuket would also be nice so i agree with the general.

From the OP:

"For the Bangkok-Chiang Mai route, he said Japan is keen on investing in the project and the Transport Ministry has been assigned to study the joint venture in detail."

So, since the junta is considering a fast train to Chiang Mai, it's ok to proceed with continuing to spend the lion's share of the governments budget on Bangkok. The fact that per capita investment in Bangkok in 2012 was more than twelve times the per capita spending in the rest of Thailand is fine. The fact that the junta is going to make this disparity even worse is also fine so long as the rest of Thailand is thrown a few crumbs and hopes. As I posted earlier, it's back to the pre-Shinawatra days, when the government of Thailand existed to serve Bangkok.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you live in Bangkok.

[djjamie]

I have been to Jakarta and Mumbai and Manilla but won't go back there because they are inferior compared to Bangkok.

Serious Metropoles have good public transport. The new skytrain plans are nothing new in case you upcountryboys didn't know that. The plans are more then 6-7 years old and since then they are being built.

Due to the protests last year the construction has been delayed and that's what the General is trying to speed up now.

If bangkok doesn't get better transport then all salaries here will go up because people loose too much time in traffic. Is that too hard to understand? It is slowing down the development of thailand in general.

Of course one could argue that focusing on the infrastructure in Bangkok and neglecting the infrastructure in the rest of Thailand is holding up the development of Thailand in general. That's what the World Bank concluded in 2012. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/05/10/thailand-public-finance-management-review-report

Yes but it's also between bangkok and chiang mai. Many tourists want to go there as well and a fast train can also transport loads of fruit/vegy to bangkok.

The old train is romantic though but at night you can't enjoy the view.

Thailand would be a much better place with fast trains and skytrains all over bangkok. Also for tourists who won't have problems with taxi's anymore. It's the taxi's, minibus, bahtbus, big bus who congest the traffic in BKK. I will be happy if we have less of them and faster transport. A fast good train to Phuket would also be nice so i agree with the general.

From the OP:

"For the Bangkok-Chiang Mai route, he said Japan is keen on investing in the project and the Transport Ministry has been assigned to study the joint venture in detail."

So, since the junta is considering a fast train to Chiang Mai, it's ok to proceed with continuing to spend the lion's share of the governments budget on Bangkok. The fact that per capita investment in Bangkok in 2012 was more than twelve times the per capita spending in the rest of Thailand is fine. The fact that the junta is going to make this disparity even worse is also fine so long as the rest of Thailand is thrown a few crumbs and hopes. As I posted earlier, it's back to the pre-Shinawatra days, when the government of Thailand existed to serve Bangkok.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you live in Bangkok.

In most countries the investment in capital cities is more than regional centers. This is normal due to the higher population and more complex infrastructural demands not to mention the logistical demands that the capitals have.

In Queensland, Australia Brisbane receive over 12 times the investment per capita than Toowomba does yet Toowomba produce 4 times the farming produce than Brisbane does. It is a rural farming community not unlike Isaan when compared to Bangkok.

It costs more money to run a shopping centre than it dos to run a corner shop.

As for a few crumbs. The Shins have pumped 1.5 trillion baht over 12 years into so called schemes to elevate disparity in the North yet the farmers are as poor today as they were 12 years ago. The shins are not poorer though.

Have a great evening my dear friend.

[heybruce]

Of course one could argue that focusing on the infrastructure in Bangkok and neglecting the infrastructure in the rest of Thailand is holding up the development of Thailand in general. That's what the World Bank concluded in 2012. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/05/10/thailand-public-finance-management-review-report

Yes but it's also between bangkok and chiang mai. Many tourists want to go there as well and a fast train can also transport loads of fruit/vegy to bangkok.

The old train is romantic though but at night you can't enjoy the view.

Thailand would be a much better place with fast trains and skytrains all over bangkok. Also for tourists who won't have problems with taxi's anymore. It's the taxi's, minibus, bahtbus, big bus who congest the traffic in BKK. I will be happy if we have less of them and faster transport. A fast good train to Phuket would also be nice so i agree with the general.

From the OP:

"For the Bangkok-Chiang Mai route, he said Japan is keen on investing in the project and the Transport Ministry has been assigned to study the joint venture in detail."

So, since the junta is considering a fast train to Chiang Mai, it's ok to proceed with continuing to spend the lion's share of the governments budget on Bangkok. The fact that per capita investment in Bangkok in 2012 was more than twelve times the per capita spending in the rest of Thailand is fine. The fact that the junta is going to make this disparity even worse is also fine so long as the rest of Thailand is thrown a few crumbs and hopes. As I posted earlier, it's back to the pre-Shinawatra days, when the government of Thailand existed to serve Bangkok.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you live in Bangkok.

In most countries the investment in capital cities is more than regional centers. This is normal due to the higher population and more complex infrastructural demands not to mention the logistical demands that the capitals have.

In Queensland, Australia Brisbane receive over 12 times the investment per capita than Toowomba does yet Toowomba produce 4 times the farming produce than Brisbane does. It is a rural farming community not unlike Isaan when compared to Bangkok.

It costs more money to run a shopping centre than it dos to run a corner shop.

As for a few crumbs. The Shins have pumped 1.5 trillion baht over 12 years into so called schemes to elevate disparity in the North yet the farmers are as poor today as they were 12 years ago. The shins are not poorer though.

Have a great evening my dear friend.

Is the per capita investment in Queensland more than twelve times the per capita investment in the rest of Australia?

In the years since Thaksin became PM the farmers are still poor, but they've sent their children through university and have hope for the future (in between military governments) for their children. I know, I've taught some of these children.

I'm not a fan of Thaksin, he had the opportunity to be a hero and wasted it on greed. But he showed the people in Thailand that their government doesn't have to serve Bangkok only, it can build schools, roads, clinics and other infrastructure needs that benefit the rest of the nation. Even after the voters abandon the Shinawatras (hopefully soon), they will remember that the government of Thailand should serve all of Thailand, not just Bangkok. By demonstrating that they don't recognize this, the junta demonstrates it isn't fit to rule.

[chooka]

So the reason for the coup, reconciliation and reform have been placed on the back burner?