What China’s struggles with a Thai railway say about the Belt and Road

After years of stuttering progress on a 250km high-speed rail link, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected to sign a deal in Bangkok this week

Experts say the key Belt and Road project shows how, contrary to perceptions, Southeast Asian nations have significant leverage with China

Reading Time:4 minutes

Models of high-speed trains in Qingdao, China. Photo: EPA

Published: 10:30am, 13 Oct 2020Updated: 8:52pm, 13 Oct 2020

When Foreign Minister Wang Yi visits Thailand on Wednesday and Thursday as part of his tour of Southeast Asia, China’s top diplomat is expected to sign a contract for a 252km high-speed rail link between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima in the east of the country.

The line, which is part of a railway running from Kunming in southern China to Singapore, will eventually run up to Nong Khai and over the border to Laos, where Chinese engineers have blasted through mountains and built massive bridges over rivers to meet a 2021 deadline to open a link to China’s vast rail network.

Progress on the high-speed line has stuttered for several years with Thai authorities uneasy over the high interest rates charged by Chinese financing, the track design and even the need for the scheme.

In September the Thai cabinet released a fresh portion of US$380 million cash to purchase Chinese-made bullet trains and tracks.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, the director of Chulalongkorn University’s Institute of Security and International Studies in Thailand, said China’s top diplomat “would want to resuscitate this rail project, otherwise there is no purpose or no use having a railway all the way from Vientiane but not coming through Thailand.”

Analysts said Thailand’s strategic location and its potential for sea, air and rail links across Southeast Asia was the chief draw for China, and an integral part of Beijing’s Belt and Road ambitions in the region.

Part of the vision consists of the high-speed rail line running from Kunming to Singapore, criss-crossing across several Southeast Asian countries.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x