ASEAN Beat

China-Thailand Rail Project Back on Track With Cost Agreement

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ASEAN Beat

China-Thailand Rail Project Back on Track With Cost Agreement

The two sides agree on the cost of the first phase of a key project in Beijing’s infrastructure ambitions in Southeast Asia.

China-Thailand Rail Project Back on Track With Cost Agreement
Credit: Flickr/alex_and_stacy

China and Thailand have agreed on the cost of the first phase of a planned high-speed railway project, thereby once again breathing new life into Beijing’s grand infrastructure ambitions in Southeast Asia, Thailand’s transport minister said Wednesday.

The two countries have been discussing the billion-dollar rail project for years, with the latest iteration since 2014 being two routes covering 873 kilometers (542 miles) running from southern China through Laos to Thailand’s industrial eastern coast. As I have stressed elsewhere, the project is central to Chinese broader infrastructure objectives under the One Belt, One Road which would see a railway running from Kunming all the way down to Malaysia and Singapore (See: “China’s Grand Plans in Southeast Asia on Track With Thai Rail Deal”).

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