Thai PM pushes forward railway construction project with China

Illustrative image (Source: chinadaily.com.cn) 

Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on June 15 issued a decree on pushing forward the construction of a railway linking Thailand and China, according to Thailand’s Royal Gazette.

The decree instructs the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) to hire a Chinese private contractor, which must be certified by China’s National Development and Reform Commission, to supervise the construction.

The contractor will also oversee the design of the railway infrastructure, rail and electrical systems while serving as an advisor for construction and workforce training.

The SRT must draft a contract detailing the project’s costs and other conditions based on earlier Cabinet resolutions and meetings of the Thailand – China Railway Committee.

In order to issue the decree, Thai PM invoked Section 44 of the interim Constitution 2014 to clear legal problems to the delayed project.  

Construction on the railway started in 2014 with planned linkage between China’s Kunming province and the Gulf of Thailand.

During the first stage, a 252km section will be built connecting Bangkok with the Thai province of Nakhon Ratchasima at an estimated cost of 5.2 billion USD. -VNA

VNA