BANGKOK (ANN/THE STAR) – As Indonesia launches South-East Asia’s maiden high speed rail service, Thailand is not too far behind, having embarked on the modernisation of its rail network more than a decade ago.
Currently, the construction of the first HSR in Thailand is underway, which is expected to connect with the Laos-China Railway to become part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
This critical link is also in part realisation of the long-touted Singapore-Kunming rail link, a concept discussed several decades ago.
Thailand makes no secret of its ambition to be the HSR hub of the Asean Economic Community, having announced its intent of having five HSR lines sprouting from Bangkok in all directions, including one southwards to Malaysian border so that it can connect with its neighbour at Padang Besar, a distance of close to 1,000 kilometres.
On its website, the Thailand Board of Investment says to ensure it maximises its strategic location at the heart of the Asean Economic Community, Thailand will invest around THB1.9 trillion under its national development plans.
Key infrastructure projects include intercity rail network development, along with public transportation network development to address road traffic problems in Bangkok and its suburbs, even though it will increase its highway capacity to connect the country’s key production bases with those of neighbouring countries.
Currently, attention is now on the Bangkok-Nong Khai HSR, a stretch on Thailand’s northeastern HSR line, a 608-kilometre stretch that is currently under construction, and one that is critical in making rail travel from Kunming to Singapore via Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur closer to reality.
This stretch is expected to be operational by 2030 at the latest as the country battles hard to overcome several challenges along the way. Under Phase 1, the 252-kilometre stretch from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima will be completed in a few years from now, though no exact timeline is given.
In a recent presentation at the inaugural Women In Rail Conference 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, the Thai director-general for the Rail Transport Department, Dr Pichet Kunadhamraks, admitted that progress of rail construction in Thailand is “slow”, though it can be inferred that it is mostly for valid reasons.
One of it is the intent of the Thais to learn as much as they could from the HSR construction process, departing from the strategy of leaving everything to the main contractor or technology supplier, said Kunadhamraks in his presentation titled High Speed Rail: Thailand’s Push To Promoting Greater Connectivity within Thailand and the larger Asean region.
An analysis by Japanese rail experts said Thailand intends to maintain a certain level of autonomy in the development of HSR, with Thailand providing full funding for first phase of the HSR project that involves heavy Chinese input, with both countries “sharing responsibilities” for design, construction, and supervision with the Chinese side.
Crucially, while obtaining heavy technical input from China on the HSR technology, Thailand wants to take the lead when it comes to infrastructure development (especially the civil infrastructure part such as bridges and tunnels), with the Chinese side seen as a contracting party.
Thailand is also open to the idea of multiple HSR systems from different countries, with the planned northern line from Bangkok to Chiangmai based on Japan’s shinkansen following the signing of a memorandum of cooperation on May 27, 2015.
It is also open the different funding or contracting models, with its “Three Airport HSR” linking Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi with U-Tapao (near the Gulf of Thailand) developed using the public-private partnership model, with the proposed system having a design speed of 300kph.
However, analysts believe that these challenges are not insurmountable, and that the Thais need to closely monitor these projects in order to realise their benefits and contribute to the kingdom’s development. In fact, industry observers have said that if executed correctly, Thailand’s HSR network has the potential to play a crucial role in the transportation network of not just Thai soil, but also the Mekong region in the future.
In May 2022, then Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong announced that Malaysia and Thailand have agreed to set up a joint special committee to look into linking Thailand’s HSR network from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur. Dr Wee said this following a bilateral meeting with his Thai counterpart Saksayam Chidchob, where he added the committee would discuss the planning and technical aspects of the proposed HSR project.
