Construction of Sino-Thai railway project 'to start this year'

"We [Thailand and China] are almost done with the contract, 90 per cent I will say. The construction will start this year for sure," Chatchai Thipsunaree, permanent secretary of the ministry, told Xinhua after a press conference.
At the news conference, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said the project was of great importance to the Kingdom, as it would connect Thailand with neighbouring countries.
The current project – a 252-kilometre high-speed railway from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima – will be extended another 355km to Nong Khai on the Thai-Laotian border, connecting with the China-Laos railway from Vientiane to Kunming in southern China's Yunnan province, Arkhom said.
The railway is also to be extended to the south, to Kuala Lumpur and finally Singapore, he said.
The government also plans a public-private-partnership to build a high-speed railway from Bangkok to Rayong to connect with the Thailand-China railway project.
Several Thai experts told Xinhua earlier that they wanted the railway plan to be implemented more quickly.
Aksornsri Phanishsarn, director of the Thai-Chinese Strategic Research Centre of the National Research Council, told Xinhua that she hoped China could help push for the Thailand-China railway project to become a "successful case" of cooperation between countries.
Swai Visavanant, senior researcher at Chulalongkorn University's Chinese Studies Centre, urged the Thai government to move quickly towards implementation of the railway project, saying that Thailand could otherwise lose good opportunities in its development.
Arkhom said China and Thailand still needed to agree on three things – materials for the project’s construction, consulting fees, and whether it is necessary for Chinese engineers to get Thai engineering certifications before they come to work in the Kingdom.