The first phase of the China-Thailand Railway connects Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima, and the second phase of the project will extend to Nong Khai, an important border trade town in the northeast, which is just across the river from Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Mohan can reach Kunming. The China-Thailand Railway is a key project of the Belt and Road Initiative between China and Thailand, and it is also the first standard-gauge high-speed railway in Thailand.

China-Thailand Railway

On December 21, 2017, the first phase of the China-Thailand railway cooperation project officially started in Pak Chong County, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. The first phase of the project connects the capital Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima in the northeast, with a total length of about 253 kilometers and a designed maximum speed of 250 kilometers per hour. There are 6 stations along the route. The budget is 179.412 billion baht, and there are 14 construction contracts, of which 1 contract has been completed, 7 contracts are under construction, 3 contracts are under construction and 3 contracts are in the procurement stage.

The second phase of the China-Thailand railway cooperation project, Nakhon Ratchasima-Nong Khai, has a total length of 356.01 kilometers. It is planned to open services in 2028 to realize the interconnection of the Thailand-Laos-China railway. It can reach Kunming via Boten in Laos and Mohan in China.

The construction site of the China-Thailand Railway, taken in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand

China is Thailand's largest trading partner and source of tourists, and the third largest source of investment. The China-Thailand high-speed rail project will connect Thailand with neighboring countries in ASEAN, help Thailand become the transportation and logistics center of ASEAN, and will greatly save the cost of logistics and freight between the two countries. At present, the transportation routes between China and Thailand are mainly by sea and land, which takes a long time and costs a lot. After the completion of the China-Thailand Railway, the speed of trains along the line in Thailand will be greatly increased. While saving time, the transportation cost will also be reduced by about 12%. Due to the reduction in transportation costs between China and Thailand, the railway will add 2 million Chinese tourists to Thailand every year, and it will also further facilitate the export of Thai agricultural products.

At the end of March 2022, for the first time, Thailand realized the transportation of durians and coconuts to China via the China-Laos railway, and the transportation process took only 5 days. In the near future, when the China-Thailand railway opens to traffic, the logistics cycle between Thailand and China will be shortened even more. Editor/He Yuting