Following in the successful tracks of a railway linking China and Laos, Thailand’s cabinet gave the green light this week to the second stage of a high-speed rail link with China.
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On Tuesday, the day before Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra embarked on a four-day visit to Beijing, it approved the construction of a 357km (222 mile) rail line connecting Nakhon Ratchasima to Nong Khai, on the border with Laos. An extension of a line between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima that is already under construction, it would enable fast travel from the Thai capital to Kunming, the capital of southwest China’s Yunnan province, via Laos.
John Gong, a professor of economics at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said the success of the China-Laos railway had spurred Thailand’s endorsement of the second phase of the project, building on already robust economic and trade connections.
The Kunming-Vientiane line had given a boost to Laos’ economy in terms of exports and tourism that had been noticed by neighbouring countries, he said.
Launched in 2021, the Belt and Road Initiative project had handled over 43 million passenger trips and more than 48.3 million tonnes of cargo by the end of last year.
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China and Thailand are preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations. China has been Thailand’s largest trading partner for more than a decade and its biggest source of foreign tourists.
Before her visit, Thai media reported that Paetongtarn had reaffirmed the Southeast Asian country’s commitment to combating cross-border crimes following the recent abduction of a Chinese actor that had a negative impact on prospective Chinese tourists.