PM thanks China for supporting Thailand's high-speed railway development

BANGKOK, December 7 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has thanked the Chinese government for supporting high-speed railway development in Thailand. Yingluck extended the message to Lu Chunfang, Chinese Vice Minister for Railways, who paid a courtesy call on her at Bangkok's Government House Friday on the occasion that the visiting Chinese vice minister attended the second joint Thai-Sino ministerial meeting on railway cooperation on Thursday. The prime minister also thanked China for training Thai transport officials on railway technologies, saying she hopes that the Thai-Chinese railway cooperation will lead to concrete results in the near future. The prime minister also referred to a recent official visit to Thailand by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, from November 20-21, noting that the visit was impressive and enhanced Thai-Sino relations and cooperation at all levels. Lu, in turn, thanked the Thai prime minister for valuing Thai-Sino cooperation, insisting that Beijing is willing to continue with the bilateral railway cooperation. Thailand and China sealed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on railway cooperation on April 17, 2012 and China has ever since studied the possibility of developing high-speed railways from Bangkok to Chiang Mai province in the Thai North and to Nong Khai province in the Thai Northeast. The second joint meeting on December 6, meanwhile, saw serious discussions and exchange of information and Chinese authorities confirmed they are ready to help Thailand in terms of finance and technologies and to comply with an agreement between the Thai and the Chinese prime ministers. (TNA)