Thailand eyes developing rail routes connecting with China, ASEAN countries

BANGKOK, November 17 (TNA) - Thailand will have high-speed rail routes connecting Bangkok to China and seven other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) over the next 5-6 years. Thai Transport Minister Chatchart Sittipan said on Saturday during the weekly television and radio program of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra that he had an opportunity to observe a UK high speed domestic rail service and study an integrated railway network in Europe, when accompanying Premier Yingluck during her four-day official visit to the United Kingdom from November 12-15. Chatchart acknowledged that Thailand will have such a high-speed rail network connecting Bangkok with China’s southern Kunming city, Singapore, and other cities in ASEAN member nations, namely Kuala Lumpur, Pinang, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Yangon and Vientiane in the foreseeable future. According to the transport minister, the Thai government, under the project, plans to develop four rail routes that will allow high-speed trains to run to these cities. The northern corridor with a total length of 1,100 kilometers will go from Bangkok to other Thai provinces of Nakhon Sawan and Tak, where it will split into two routes, the first will end in Myanmar’s Yangon and the other will end in Chiang Mai Province but could be further developed to link with China’s Kunming. The northeastern corridor with a total length of 600 kilometers will link Bangkok with Vientiane, Laos' capital, via the Thai provinces of Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani and Nong Khai. The eastern corridor with a total length of 800 kilometers will start in Bangkok and end in Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh City, via Thailand's Chachoengsao Province and Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital. The southern corridor with a total length of 1,900 kilometers will start in Bangkok and continue to Thailand’s Surat Thani province, where it will split into two routes, the first one will end in Phuket and the other will end in Singapore, via Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital. (TNA)