NCPO will be long gone when bill for high-speed rail arrives 

It will kill the investment made on the existing railways and it will never make a profit. Two competing rail systems on the same routes?
And getting a Chinese railway will mean a huge loss for Thailand.
hansnl
Hard to figure why the junta is pushing this project, other than the income possibilities over the next 50 years.
Who will take a high-speed train from Korat to Bangkok, with limited schedules and ticket prices at Bt1,500? 
The junta is definitely on a train to crazy-town.
mtls2005
It can be likened to a building contractor getting a new contract. 
He gets the bulk of the profit and puts in as little as possible to start the project. 
Then he leaves. 
The new builder has to come in and clean up the mess to finish the project. He gets the last of the money and all the blame for design faults and problems. 
This project is all wrapped up with a bow, ready for the next government to deal with. 
Nothing to do with the NCPO, I imagine.
greenchair 
Bankruptcy only happens to the poor, right?
Get Real
I would think that a sizeable upper-middle-income country like Thailand should have a double-track standard gauge as normal by now, but no need for super-fast “bullet” train.
One of the problems in the country is that governments have long given incentives to business to develop in Bangkok and the Eastern Seaboard, resulting in an unbalanced spread of population in comparison to most other countries.
If generous business incentives were available to outlying areas, maybe people would be able to work near their own homes and a rail system would become viable.
Lemonltr
ThaiVisa