BEIJING, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Construction on the China-Thailand railway linking the Thai-Lao border with Bangkok is expected to kick off in 2017, according to a memorandum on railway cooperation inked between China and Thailand on Dec. 9.
The China-Thailand railway, designed to run from Bangkok to North Thailand's Nong Khai with total lengths of 873 kilometers, would be built in two phases. Construction on the first phase, from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima, will start in 2017 and finish in three years, and the whole project may take five years, said Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, transport minister of Thailand, in an interview with Xinhua.
According to Arkhom, the construction of an initial 3.5 km section will start soon after a bidding in early 2017, which will be followed by other sections of the first phase. The design work of the second phase, Nakhon Ratchasima to Nong Khai will also begin early next year.
The two countries have agreed that Thailand would buy motors and materials and introduce technologies from China for the railway construction, but would take care of the investment and operation issues of the Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima section, said Arkhom.
The planned railway will join China-Lao railway in Nong Khai, which would create a railway path for Chinese tourists from Kunming in Yunnan province to Bangkok.
Arkhom mentioned that the 873-km railway was win-win cooperation between China and Thailand as it can help bring more Chinese tourists to Thailand and thus benefit its tourism while Chinese goods and commodities can be transported to Thai ports through Thai railways.
According to the minister, Thailand has rolled out infrastructure programs with 65 billion U.S. dollars for the next eight years. Some 10 metro lines will be built in Bangkok and its adjacent provinces.
He said Chinese companies can bid for these planned metro lines but they have to team up with a local company to join the biding, according to Thai laws and regulations. Enditem (Edited by Li Xiaohui, lixh@xinhua.org)
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