Experts see difficulty in Thai government's high-speed trains to seaside areas

BANGKOK, February 14 (TNA) - Experts say an idea floated recently by Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha to develop high-speed train systems, linking Bangkok with two popular seaside areas, Pattaya and Hua Hin, to help boost domestic tourism appears to be difficult to become materialised. The experts pointed out on Saturday (Feb 14) it would take several years before an environmental impact study could be completed, while the private sector should, thus, be reluctant to enter a joint investment plan with the state and the government may have to invest by itself if it wants the projects to become materialised. Besides, reliable sources at the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTTPP), under the Thai Ministry of Transport, suggested it would be difficult to implement the projects and they should not interest the private sector to jointly invest in the projects due to high investment costs and a difficulty in making a profit. Prime Minister General Prayut has come up with the idea to develop the short-distance high-speed train systems, from Bangkok to Pattaya in Chon Buri Province and from Bangkok to Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province to boost domestic tourism-related businesses, especially in the two provinces. But OTTPP earlier conducted an environmental impact study on both routes and found unfavourable results. For instance, the route passing through Pattaya, a train would start from Bangkok, passing through Chachoengsao and Chon Buri Provinces to Rayong Province in the Thai East with its total distance of 193.5 kilometres and total construction cost of about 152 billion baht, while an economic internal rate of return (EIRR) is 13 per cent and the construction would take about 54 months. And for the route passing through Hua Hin, the OTTPP study found that the route would pass five provinces through the UpperThai South, starting from Bangkok with its total distance of 209 kilometres and a total investment cost of about 98.40 billion baht and EIRR at 8.11 per cent. (TNA)