SRT receives first Thai-made luxury EV train for tourism routes

Yodchanan Wongsawat, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, on Friday witnessed the handover ceremony for the first “Thai-made train”, a prototype passenger train developed from research into real-world use.

He said the project directly supported the government’s key policy of pushing Thai research towards economic value creation.

The train is a prototype luxury-class EV rail system designed and produced in Thailand entirely by Thai researchers and engineers.

Yodchanan said the project also reflected cooperation in knowledge development between research institutes and more than 30 private-sector companies.

Importantly, he said, the train costs 30% less than imported alternatives, clearly proving that Thai-made products are not only possible, but genuinely competitive.

Yodchanan added that, looking ahead, Thailand’s investment in rail infrastructure over the next 20 years would create demand for more than 2,000 passenger carriages.

He said building Thailand’s own rail economy, or domestic rail-industry ecosystem, was therefore essential to reducing dependence on imports.

This would lead to manufacturing development, job creation, new careers, advanced technology transfer and, ultimately, ensure that every baht spent circulates back into strengthening the Thai economy in a sustainable way.

Anan Phonimdaeng, governor of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), said the SRT was delighted to receive a train that uses a high proportion of domestically produced materials, helping the country save a significant amount of budget.

He said the SRT would now conduct comprehensive safety tests before deploying the train on tourism routes of around 200-500 kilometres.

The Thai-made train was developed in cooperation with Joint Venture Sinogen-Pin Petch Co Ltd, resulting in a prototype passenger carriage with 25 seats.

Its structure is 22% lighter, and the train supports a maximum speed of 120 kilometres per hour.

The train has already undergone more than 10,000 kilometres of real-operation testing.

It also uses domestically manufactured components accounting for 44.1% of the total, while generating seven additional intellectual-property works.

The project marks a major step in raising Thailand’s rail industry towards genuine self-reliance through Thai innovation and technology.