China and Thailand to be connected by new 840km railway

[62strat]

Nice of Thailand to allow Chinese businesses cheaper transportation. This should enable the Chinese to uncut almost everything made in Thailand. Tourists with money to spend will still fly, rather than spend days on a train. China is not doing this to help low income people travel....Can anyone name a 'friend' of China that befitted in the long run ? Not the few 'elite' military leaders but the people. Chinese undoubtably has long range plans here, but a strong and prosperous Thailand is unlikely to be in their interests. A weak and paranoid Military Government, afraid of its own people, seems so easily manipulated by Bejing into becoming a vessel state...

[t8769]

The Chinese are the 21st Century's British- they are building around the world.

Soon they will build a UK nuclear power plant in the UK as well as high speed rail.

T​hey are building damns, railways, factories and just about everything else in Africa, Asia and now Europe.

​

Sneer at them all you like, the West is borrowing and spending its self into bankruptcy and building very little.

The 21st Century belongs to the Chinese.

[tonbridgebrit]

Am I the only excited about this?

Yes tragic because you are amongst the usual nothing can be done right in Thailand brigade -----this is quite humorous as a lot of the posters are from the UK a country that has talked about putting in a high speed rail system HS2 for about the last 20 years. The cost there is estimated to be around £42.6bn... (2352 Billion Baht)....no its not going to China its just going up the road a bit-----if they ever stop talking about it & do it----how long to complete --best guest 2033. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-16473296

& they find it entertaining to laugh at the Thai's..........but then we had the same with the airport......no it will never get done....then its no good , (even though it keeps getting voted in the top 5)

So the short answer Tragic, is that amongst this lot who seem to hate the Thai's progressing in any way-----yes you are the only one to get excited

...

Agreed pmugghc

Anything positive about Thailand and immediately people start posting negative comments about the people, how terrible they are and how ( I assume) they are inferior to the wonderful Westerner.

There's an army of miserable, bitter, twisted guys waiting to leave negative comments on this site whenever anything good is mentioned about Thailand.

Its always about how they know the real Thailand, and how bad it is.​

I know there are some alcoholic losers among the honourable fraternity of Fallang, but they never shut up.

It took 20 years for London to get its latest subway. The UK's high speed rail was talked about for decades and isn't going to be up for at least another 10.

Sneering Western Fallang have nothing to feel superior about.

​

I'm suspicious that if they allowed a Chinese consortium to build HS2, it would be cheaper and would be built on time. But no, they will never allow a Chinese consortium to do it. In Britain, it's called politics, a political decision. You notice that if the same thing happens in Thailand, well, it's called face.

[jaywalker]

Maybe 3 years to work out the contracts & planning & route & land acquisition is what they meant to say?

Sounds more realistic.

[cyberfarang]

Bangkok to Kunming is 1,221 km as the crow flies. Something doesn't add up here.

840km from Kunming gets us roughly to the Thai / Laos border.

The distance couldn`t be measured any further because the engineer ran out of string.

Will believe this when I see it.

[elgordo38]

the new rail line should bring two million more Chinese tourists to Thailand annually

Note to self - do not take the train to/from China

Watch out it could turn into a troop train. I figure 24 hours and it would be all over. 2 million more tourists tell them to bring their own water, generators, and rear end defecation bags.

[fish fingers]

yeah the distance is totally wong.

[ikurauni]

I would never take this train. Sounds like a death train, if they want to complete in 3 years.

[Spleen]

the new rail line should bring two million more Chinese tourists to Thailand annually

Note to self - do not take the train to/from China

Last year I had the unfortunate luck to be at a hotel in Phnom penh where a group of 50 Chinese were staying. During the buffet breakfast I was absolutely disgusted by the sounds these pigs were making, slurping,sucking,belching,and a whole assortment of animal type sounds. Needless to say I wont be using the dining car on this train

No one gobbed on the floor?

[t8769]

Yes their manners are terrible, yes they're rude, aggressive and don't know how to wait in line.

But they are swimming in cash, and they know how to get things done.

The West pays people not to work, pays immigrants not to integrate or work, pays State employees to barely work and keeps borrowing money it can never pay back.

Once the West was the great industrial power of the world, now it has to go begging to the Chinese to build its nuclear power stations and railways, and to buy its bonds, so it can go further into debt.

While we sink into debt China grows fat and rich.

They can do what they like, and they have enough petty cash to build one hundred 800km railways.

[Thian]

I would never take this train. Sounds like a death train, if they want to complete in 3 years.

They can also build new moobaans in ricefields within a year. A year later everything has cracks.

The clay in Thailand needs some years to settle before one can build on it. It will sink and for a high speed train that's not optimal (read dangerous).

[jaywalker]

Yes their manners are terrible, yes they're rude, aggressive and don't know how to wait in line.

But they are swimming in cash, and they know how to get things done.

The West pays people not to work, pays immigrants not to integrate or work, pays State employees to barely work and keeps borrowing money it can never pay back.

Once the West was the great industrial power of the world, now it has to go begging to the Chinese to build its nuclear power stations and railways, and to buy its bonds, so it can go further into debt.

While we sink into debt China grows fat and rich.

They can do what they like, and they have enough petty cash to build one hundred 800km railways.

Well said.

===================

The Indians in the USA (or India for that matter) probably thought the same thing about Americans as we took over N. America or the Brits as they took over India.

What was normal to us was barbaric to them (where's that great scourge 'Globilization' when you need it?).

Empires rise & fall. American Empire is on it's last legs.

Romans, Persians, Ottomans, Greeks, Spanish, British, American... you name it.

Currently us Yanks are just the last in a long line of dominoes that have fallen.

China seems to be the front-runner for the next super power.

Uncouth b@stards .

Edited September 21, 2015 by jaywalker

[PattayaClub]

Bangkok to Kunming is 1,221 km as the crow flies. Something doesn't add up here.

840km from Kunming gets us roughly to the Thai / Laos border.

Maybe the rest of it is the train line Thailand is planning to build . . .

[PattayaClub]

Yes their manners are terrible, yes they're rude, aggressive and don't know how to wait in line.

But they are swimming in cash, and they know how to get things done.

The West pays people not to work, pays immigrants not to integrate or work, pays State employees to barely work and keeps borrowing money it can never pay back.

Once the West was the great industrial power of the world, now it has to go begging to the Chinese to build its nuclear power stations and railways, and to buy its bonds, so it can go further into debt.

While we sink into debt China grows fat and rich.

They can do what they like, and they have enough petty cash to build one hundred 800km railways.

Doesn't sound like you have been keeping up with the business news.

[yellowboat]

Am I the only excited about this?

No, Kunming is probably the most pleasant city in China, very different from most major Chinese cities. Linking it by rail is exciting and will bring lots of opportunities to SE Asia. There are of course going to be problems, but the project is long over due.

[ace]

The 840km may refer to new construction only, most through Laos.

[ehs818]

Sounds like only the Thai section of this rail will be about 840km. From BKK to the border with Laos?

Be careful who you let into your country Thailand. The Chinese have a way of acting just like Russia did.

[spidermike007]

Sounds like only the Thai section of this rail will be about 840km. From BKK to the border with Laos?

Be careful who you let into your country Thailand. The Chinese have a way of acting just like Russia did.

To refer to the Chinese govt. as power hungry, ambitious, expansionary minded, and ruthless, would be a massive understatement. Thailand has no idea who they are playing with.

[BKKdreaming]

it this going to passenger and freight ? On the same train ?

the only way this works out money wise is to send mile long freight trains with Chinese goods all round Asia ,

I do not see enough people wanting to take many days train trips when flights are so cheap !

[kaiyaibob]

The Chinese are the 21st Century's British- they are building around the world.

Soon they will build a UK nuclear power plant in the UK as well as high speed rail.

T​hey are building damns, railways, factories and just about everything else in Africa, Asia and now Europe.

​

Sneer at them all you like, the West is borrowing and spending its self into bankruptcy and building very little.

The 21st Century belongs to the Chinese.

Not just 21st century I seem to recall from old western movies the Chinese built most of the American railroad system...admittedly overseen by falang's ...oh and bull whips

[speedtripler]

the new rail line should bring two million more Chinese tourists to Thailand annually

Note to self - do not take the train to/from China

Last year I had the unfortunate luck to be at a hotel in Phnom penh where a group of 50 Chinese were staying. During the buffet breakfast I was absolutely disgusted by the sounds these pigs were making, slurping,sucking,belching,and a whole assortment of animal type sounds. Needless to say I wont be using the dining car on this train

You should see them at King power duty free at victory monument

They can't use the bathroom without blowing snot all over the sinks and spitting all over the place

There is signs up now that we're never there before, probably from the poor ladies who have to clean that bathrooms a few hundred times a day....

Quality tourist from China eh....

Put them back in a <deleted> zoo where they belong...

[ross163103]

The Thais better be careful who they get into bed with, the Qinghai Tibet railway comes to mind and all the changes in Tibet that came with it.

[ratcatcher]

The Thais better be careful who they get into bed with, the Qinghai Tibet railway comes to mind and all the changes in Tibet that came with it.

Quite true, but Tibet is/was an autonomous region of China, Thailand is not.............................yet.

[Srikcir]

Project completion has already been delayed due to estimated cost overrun of 20%-30%.

"The commencement of Thailand-China double-track railway construction project is likely to face a delay, as the latest bilateral talks have found the project’s value to be higher than the Thai government’s estimation."

[ratcatcher]

Project completion has already been delayed due to estimated cost overrun of 20%-30%.

"The commencement of Thailand-China double-track railway construction project is likely to face a delay, as the latest bilateral talks have found the project’s value to be higher than the Thai government’s estimation."

Champagne tastes with beer money?

[attento]

If the Chinese are intent on this going ahead they obviously have the people,funds and know how to make this a success and it is indeed very possible.

That said the initial report and facts surrounding the project already shows signs of errors and cracks so the likelihood of this going ahead and being a success is about as likely as West Ham winning the Champions league in the next 20 years.

For China to become involved, there has to be some political advantage, however slight or distant the apparent reward.

It is seldom, if ever, a straight commercial decision.

The scale of the task is not a major consideration ( - they are "building" islands now in the middle of the ocean, in order to confirm larger areas of territorial water !).

It is unlikely the long term aim is to stop this line at BKK, more credible would be a termination in Singapore.

[gk10002000]

don't like it. Thailand should invest in its infrastructure first. Lots of train crossings, bridges, flood prone track areas, etc.

[MaiChai]

Chinese are optimistic. They have to remember Thailand does not have a Communist government who can just appropriate land at the drop of a hat. It might be cheaper to go by train but having a regular scheduled flight between the two countries is much easier and cheaper to setup? Its probably more environmentally friendly to fly as well considering the effort/materials required to build such a long railway.

[webfact]

Prayut ensures Thai-China railway is in progress

BANGKOK, 23 September 2015 (NNT) - Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha pleaded Thai people not to put much pressure on the government over the Thai-China dual-track railway construction as the government needs to run the project prudently to prevent corruption allegations. He confirmed the government has been following up the project’s progress.

The project is part of the “One Belt, One Road” policy to restore Silk Road linking trade and development between Asia and Europe. Its construction is scheduled to start in October this year.

The railway consists of two sections. The first section links China’s Kunming City with Nong Khai, a northeastern province of Thailand. The second part is to link Nong Khai with Bangkok and also branches out to the eastern province of Rayong.

Gen Prayut said that an obstacle to the project is public encroachment upon the State Railway of Thailand's land. The government is, therefore, trying to raise understanding with the encroachers to gain their cooperation.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Gen Tanasak Patimapragorn confirmed to a Chinese news agency, Xinhua, that the Thai-China railway would not only boost tourism but also strenthen logistic infrastructure, promoting efficient distribution of goods in the region.


-- NNT 2015-09-23

[daveAustin]

Am I the only excited about this?

Yes tragic because you are amongst the usual nothing can be done right in Thailand brigade -----this is quite humorous as a lot of the posters are from the UK a country that has talked about putting in a high speed rail system HS2 for about the last 20 years. The cost there is estimated to be around £42.6bn... (2352 Billion Baht)....no its not going to China its just going up the road a bit-----if they ever stop talking about it & do it----how long to complete --best guest 2033. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-16473296

& they find it entertaining to laugh at the Thai's..........but then we had the same with the airport......no it will never get done....then its no good , (even though it keeps getting voted in the top 5)

So the short answer Tragic, is that amongst this lot who seem to hate the Thai's progressing in any way-----yes you are the only one to get excited

...

Comparing apples with oranges there Mr I hate my country because it is hip and 'I think' it might impress the natives. The HS2 would be a monumental project ripping through 500kms of the busy English countryside paying workers appropriately as opposed to a line through relatively empty swathes of nothingness in a relatively third world region where workers are paid appropriately. Good way to get to Kunming but would you loved up geezers there really appreciate the extra hordes of oriental visitors? [emoji39]