PM defends using high-speed train network for perishable goods

Yingluck Friday posted a message on her Facebook wall to defend herself against the ridicule by social networkers, saying the transport of agriculture products by high-speed trains would be part of the country’s economic development.

On Thursday, netizens paraphrased Yingluc’s speech to the House to ridicule her. They said high-speed trains were supposed to transport passengers but the prime minister said the trains would be needed to transport fresh vegetables to prevent them from rotting.

Defending the Bt2trilllion loans bill on Thursday, Yingluck said in part: “If the government invests in the high-speed train system, development will be distributed to remote areas and the people’s quality of life will increase, bringing them more convenience. Bangkok will be linked to major rural towns to facilitate faster transportation of raw materials from the source to distribution points. If the goods are foodstuffs, they will be fresher and the loss will be minimised and this will reduce the cost to farmers while the consumers will get fresher foods.”

Several Facebook users posted messages, saying that Yingluck’s speech showed that she was not smart as she wanted to build high-speed trains to transport fresh vegetables.

In her Facebook post Friday, Yingluck said her statement was distorted for political impact and those who made fun of the issue was also looking down on farmers. She said the ridicule was not constructive.

She said the transport of goods by a high-speed train system would add value to agricultural products, especially those that need fast transport to retain the quality of goods.

“The goods will sell at good prices and consumers will get fresh and non-rotten goods,” Yingluck said in the post.

“In foreign countries, it is normal to use high-speed transportation to ship goods. For example, flowers are shipped by plane (and this practice has been carried out in Thailand for a long time.). And in Europe, the Euro Carex has been developed to use high-speed trains to transport goods only. So, I am not daydreaming. This has become true in several countries and it allows farmers there to export agricultural goods that require high standard, including vegetables and flowers.”