PM pledges to accelerate High Speed Rail project

Tanakorn Sangiam

 

 

BANGKOK, 11 August 2017 (NNT) – Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha addressed a delay in the High Speed Rail project and assured it will be proceeded as fast as possible. 

The premier stressed on the importance of the High Speed Rail project which will provide connections to 29 other countries as Thailand will become a strategic rail hub on a network in which access to Europe will be provided in the future, he said. 

He said the project will help cut down travel time to domestic destinations, accommodate the expansion of cities, and provide for more business and career opportunities. 

Meanwhile, the proposed change of bus numbers in Bangkok for 269 bus routes which has been criticized over apparent difficulties for passengers to remember the new number format, he said it is a pilot project of the Ministry of Transport which can be revised. 

He said the government is now focused on the procurement of new buses to replace older ones currently in service. 

He commented on the long waiting time at immigration checkpoints at airports due to increased flights to and from Thailand, while the airport terminal remains small. 

He said more immigration counters will open with air force officers to help immigration officials in case of staff shortage.

 

 

 

-- nnt 2017-08-12

no speed limit

" He commented on the long waiting time at immigration checkpoints at airports due to increased flights to and from Thailand, while the airport terminal remains small. "

 

But isn't it currently low-season ?

 

How come then, that there are "increased flights to and from Thailand", but they can still cope with  high-season ?

 

And didn't Don Muang, in the days when it was the only Bangkok-airport, cope with more passengers than it now sees ?

When you see the words "He commented" stop reading because what follows is more often than not total garbage.

"He said the government is now focused on the procurement of new buses to replace older ones currently in service."

 

Try looking down in Chonburi.  Or have these been converted into tourist accommodation?
 

 

Edited August 12, 20178 yr by ratcatcher

Is this the 3 Km test project?

 

Or the Khorat-Bangkok line?

 

Hopefully this project doesn't lead to a malfeasance charge in the future? Or if it does, at least there should be a populist politician who can be blamed.

 

''If ever there was a Guy ''Locked and Loaded'', it's this Guy !

They even can't buy new buses for Bangkok...the buses there are 40 years old but this week they got newly painted ones.

5 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Is this the 3 Km test project?

 

Or the Khorat-Bangkok line?

 

Hopefully this project doesn't lead to a malfeasance charge in the future? Or if it does, at least there should be a populist politician who can be blamed.

 

The big man himself lives in Korat.

Aha.....seems as though the commissions have arrived and now for progress....maybe!

The premier stressed on the importance of the High Speed Rail project which will provide connections to 29 other countries as Thailand will become a strategic rail hub on a network in which access to Europe will be provided in the future, he said.

 

Where to start, "

1 Thailand will become a strategic rail hub" A rail "Hub" would have several routes joining in one place where people would change trains. You need decent a network to have a hub

 

2 "High-Speed Rail project which will provide connections to 29 other countries". East Cambodia, Vietnam. West, Myanmar,.North Laos, China, South Malaysia Singapore. Unless he's talking about a railway the goes through Myanmar and the top of India into Iran and the Middle East or through China into Russia. I cannot see where the 29 countries are

 

3 "......a network in which access to Europe will be provided in the future, " Who will build this Railway, have all the other countries agreed to build a railway through their country. Will you build a Tunnel under the Mediterranian, a bridge over it or go round it through, Turkey, Greece, and Italy?

 

Not going to happen is it

 

 

It's the Train boss

 

 

 

Can't help but think the delays at both airports might be orchestrated as some sort of protest by immigration. Wouldn't be the first time.

 

https://aecnewstoday.com/2015/bomber-blame-game-sees-thailand-immigration-abruptly-change-visa-rules/#axzz4nkHK43Ot

On the one hand it's good to see someone taking over-riding action, to unblock all the talk (10-years, 20-years ?) over the Chinese-project, and actually get it underway.  In theory.

 

But the government really needs to sort out the financing of this project, and I've not seen anything concrete about this yet, the Chinese aren't offering cheap-enough loans yet, and Thailand should not be shouldering all of the risk by financing it all themselves.

 

The ideal IMO would be a deal which prices & finances the project cheaply-enough, so that it will actually cover its costs (and then make a reasonable profit) once it's up-and-running, but it also has to be a deal which incentivises the Chinese to actually use it !  Or risk their delaying sending enough freight down-the-line to Laem Chabang until it suits them, with Thailand alone carrying the operating-losses, until that point.

 

Yes, in theory, this medium-speed heavy-freight link to the border with Laos will then enable shipments from here to feed into the existing Chinese freight-trains to Europe, though I wonder how many of those "29 other countries" will actually materialise ?  Yes, there will also be freight to/from Laos,  and Thai agricultural-products & cheap manufactured-goods moving North to China.  Yes there will be some improvement in domestic-transport for passengers to the North-East.

 

But none of those on their own would justify the project IMO.  This is mostly about enabling China to move its container-traffic down to Thai ports.  It stands or falls on that.  And the financing for the Thai-section is not yet in-place.

 

That's where the current PM should be focussing his attention right now, doing a deal which makes economic & financial sense for Thailand in the long term.

3 minutes ago, Ricardo said:

That's where the current PM should be focussing his attention right now, doing a deal which makes economic & financial sense for Thailand in the long term.

 

Yes, otherwise he might be tried for malfeasance in the future. Just kidding.

 

 

7 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Yes, otherwise he might be tried for malfeasance in the future. Just kidding.

 

No need for kidding, as far as I'm concerned !

 

This project will help/hurt the country for several decades to come.

 

It's far more significant, in its potential effects, than the rice-scheme which damaged the rice-growing industry for a decade or so.

 

A certain level of corruption is inevitable, this is Thailand, after all. One has to be realistic about that, while not approving of it.

 

But the over-riding consideration must be, to do a deal which is good for the country, in the very long run.

 

That won't be easy.

On 8/12/2017 at 11:24 AM, rooster59 said:

He said more immigration counters will open with air force officers to help immigration officials in case of staff shortage.

 

Sure Air Force personnel will love that, but it is a good idea for now.

 

On 8/12/2017 at 11:24 AM, rooster59 said:

Thailand will become a strategic rail hub on a network in which access to Europe will be provided in the future, he said.

Not likely, pretty sure Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam will want to make their own deals with China down the road.  Thailand is in no way in a leadership position in Southeast Asia. Their influence is small.  

Fanciful priorities of the elite.

 

You know how that is.

12 hours ago, Ricardo said:

On the one hand it's good to see someone taking over-riding action, to unblock all the talk (10-years, 20-years ?) over the Chinese-project, and actually get it underway.  In theory.

 

But the government really needs to sort out the financing of this project, and I've not seen anything concrete about this yet, the Chinese aren't offering cheap-enough loans yet, and Thailand should not be shouldering all of the risk by financing it all themselves.

 

The ideal IMO would be a deal which prices & finances the project cheaply-enough, so that it will actually cover its costs (and then make a reasonable profit) once it's up-and-running, but it also has to be a deal which incentivises the Chinese to actually use it !  Or risk their delaying sending enough freight down-the-line to Laem Chabang until it suits them, with Thailand alone carrying the operating-losses, until that point.

 

Yes, in theory, this medium-speed heavy-freight link to the border with Laos will then enable shipments from here to feed into the existing Chinese freight-trains to Europe, though I wonder how many of those "29 other countries" will actually materialise ?  Yes, there will also be freight to/from Laos,  and Thai agricultural-products & cheap manufactured-goods moving North to China.  Yes there will be some improvement in domestic-transport for passengers to the North-East.

 

But none of those on their own would justify the project IMO.  This is mostly about enabling China to move its container-traffic down to Thai ports.  It stands or falls on that.  And the financing for the Thai-section is not yet in-place.

 

That's where the current PM should be focussing his attention right now, doing a deal which makes economic & financial sense for Thailand in the long term.

Yes, High speed and freight are not compatible for many reasons. One reason is you won't want a freight train with a 40 Tonne axle load clattering over a highly tuned High speed railway. Head wear and something called side cut which is common in freight lines because of the weight of the wheel load, The wheel of freight train has a different a profile  to high speed train wheels and would chew up the rails set at very low tolerance of 1435 +1 -1 freight could operate within safety standard of 1435 +25  -14 so the wheels are not maintained to high speed standards. Radius of curve is also an issue, But I'll leave it there.

Saturdays news: Accelerate train line...Monday news: Can't proceed as loans too expensive......idiots in authority!!

Seems the weapons are on hold.  Get the Bangkok trains finished!!!  Thousands of hours on the roads, pollution, loss of productivity, expenditures on fuel...focus!  The lines are years behind already