China, Thailand Will Be Connected by Major Railroad by 2030

It was supposed to be operational in 2020, but the covid pandemic forced the Thai government to postpone construction of the rail project, which would connect the capital Bangkok to Beijing, passing through neighboring Laos.

Thailand now hopes to commission the high-speed rail link to China via Laos in 2030, nearly a decade after the originally planned opening. Thai government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub (pictured) told reporters that “more than 30 percent of the work on the rail line, which will connect Bangkok to the city of Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand’s third largest population center, is now complete.”

The Thai government also plans to build the entire 609-kilometer rail line to the city of Nong Khai on the border with Laos as soon as possible, Jirayu Khungsub said. If all goes according to plan, the railroad will be operational by 2030.

It is noted that in 2021, China and Laos opened a rail line that “loops” from the Chinese city of Kunming to the Lao capital Vientiane. The project, funded almost entirely by the Chinese government, cost $6 billion to build. The high-speed line will run through Vientiane to Nong Khai City in Thailand.

China and Thailand began talks on the rail link between the two countries 20 years ago, signing the construction agreement in 2017 and scheduling the railroad for commissioning in 2021. Infrastructure construction was delayed by the covid pandemic, and it has taken more than four years to revive the project, which promises huge economic and trade benefits to Thailand.