Thailand - China High - Speed Railway Project: Prospects for Northeastern Thailand Development
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Published:
Dec 16, 2020
Keywords:
Thailand China High - Speed Railway Regional Development Tourism Social Improvement
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Abstract
Thailand - China high - speed railway project has become the focus of attention among domestic and international sectors due to its expected high impact/ benefits on Thai politics, economics, and society as well as its contributions to ASEAN connectivity and China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Even though many people are concerned about project failure due to low Economic Internal Rate of Return (EIRR) specified by an economic feasibility study, the Thai authorities have indicated their willingness to proceed to maintain Thailand’s long and friendly relationship with China which has been strengthened after the boycott of western countries since 2014. Moreover, the project is in line with Thailand’s national strategy which emphasizes regional development. Looking from political economy perspectives, Infrastructure development is a key factor for regional development. Therefore, Thailand - China high - speed railway which cuts across northeastern Thailand will provide a great opportunity for socio - economic and tourism development in the region.
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References
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Hammes, J. J. (2013). The political economy of infrastructure planning in Sweden. Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, 47(3), 437 - 452.
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Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning. (2014). Khrōngkān sưksā læ ‘ō̜k bǣp rotfai khwāmreo sūng sāi Krung Thēp - nō̜ng khāi raya thī 2 chūang Nakhō̜n Rātchasīmā - nō̜ng khāi [The project of study and design on Bangkok - Nong Khai high - speed railway (Nakhon Ratchasima - Nong Khai)]. Retrieved February 5, 2019, from http://www.otp.go.th/uploads/tiny_uploads/ProjectOTP/2557/project5/ReportExecutive SumTH.pdf.
Pavlićević, D. & Kratz, A. (2018). Testing the China threat paradigm: China's high - speed railway diplomacy in Southeast Asia. The Pacific Review, 31(2), 151 - 168.
Pollution Control Department. (2018). Sathānakān læ kānčhatkān panhā monlaphit thāng ʻākāt læ sīang khō̜ng prathēt Thai pī 2560 [Thailand’s air quality and noise management in 2017]. Retrieved June 11, 2019, from http://air4thai.pcd.go.th/webV 2/download.php.
Punyaratabandhu, P. & Swaspitchayaskun, J. (2018). The political economy of China - Thailand development under the One Belt One Road Initiative: Challenges and opportunities. The Chinese Economy, 51(4), 333 - 341.
Sussangkarn, C. & Ongkittikul, S. (2013). Kānchai prayōt čhāk rabop rotfai thī chư̄am yōng prathēt phư̄anbān phư̄a hai Thai pen sūnklāng thāng sētthakit læ kānthō̜ngthīeo khō̜ng phūmiphāk [The usefulness of inter - states railroad to Thailand for regional economic and tourism center]. Retrieved May 30, 2018, from http://tdri.or.th/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/wb96. pdf.
Thansettakij. (2017, June 22). Sō̜ nō̜ khō̜ čhǣng praden rotfai khwāmreo sūng Thai - Čhīn [OTP explains about Thailand - China high - speed railway project]. Retrieved July 20, 2018, from http://www.thansettakij.com/content/167285.
The Standard. (2019). Thai kwāt rāidai thō̜ngthīeo ʻandap sī khō̜ng lōk chư̄a pīnī tō īk rō̜ila sip nakthō̜ngthīeo Čhīn - Āsīan yang pen talāt lak [In 2018, Thailand ranks 4th in tourism income in the world and believe this year to grow by 10%. Chinese and ASEAN tourists are still the main target group]. Retrieved June 30, 2019, from https://thestandard.co/travel-income-rank ed-4th-in-the-world/.
The World Bank. (2014). Regional economic impact analysis of high speed rail in China. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
Wu, S. & Chong, A. (2018). Developmental rail politics: The political economy of China’s high - speed rail projects in Thailand and Indonesia. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 40(3), 503 - 526.
Zha, W. E. N. (2015). Personalized foreign policy decision - making and economic dependence: A comparative study of Thailand and the Philippines’ China policies. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 37(2), 242 - 268.
Zhao, H. (2019). China - Japan compete for infrastructure investment in Southeast Asia: Geopolitical rivalry or healthy competition?. Journal of Contemporary China, 28(118), 558 - 574.
Interviewees:
Officer no. 1. Office of Transport and traffic Policy and Planning (OTP). 16 August 2018.
Officer no. 2. Office of Transport and traffic Policy and Planning (OTP). 16 August 2018.
Officer no. 3. State Railway of Thailand (SRT). 7 September 2018.
Officer no. 4. State Railway of Thailand (SRT). 7 September 2018.
Bugalia, N. & Ram, K. S. (2019). High - speed rail: Necessary but not sufficient for socioeconomic development. Retrieved July 15, 2019, from https://www.asiapathwaysadbi.org/2019/02/high-speed-rail-necessary-but-not-sufficient-for-socioecono mic-development/.
Busbarat, P. (2016). “Bamboo swirling in the wind”: Thailand's foreign policy imbalance between China and the United States. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 38(2), 233 - 257.
Chan, G. (2018). Understanding China’s new diplomacy: Silk Roads and bullet trains. Gloucestershire, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Chen, X. (2015). A sustainability analysis on the Wuhan - Guangzhou high - speed railway in China. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 9(5), 348 - 363.
Doig, W. (2018). High - speed empire Chinese expansion and the future of Southeast Asia. New York: Columbia Global Reports.
Hewison, K. (2018). Thailand: an old relationship renewed. The Pacific Review, 31(1), 116 - 130.
Hiratsuka, D. (2019). Transit - oriented development: The stations’ renaissance and integrated development. In Hiratsuka, D. (ed.), EEC development and transport facilitation measures in Thailand, and the development strategies by the neighboring countries (9 - 30). Bangkok: JETRO, Bangkok Research Center.
Inthara, A. et al. (2017). Phatthanākān khō̜ng rotfai Thai kap kānphatthanā rotfai khwāmreo sūng nai ʻanākhot [Thailand’s railroad development and future high - speed train development]. Journal of Yala Rajabhat University, 12(Special Issue), 151 - 167.
Jiang, Y. (2019). Competitive partners in development financing: China and Japan expanding overseas infrastructure investment. The Pacific Review, 32(5), 396 - 808.
Hammes, J. J. (2013). The political economy of infrastructure planning in Sweden. Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, 47(3), 437 - 452.
Hiraishi, K. (2019). Relationship between high - speed rail and regional development: Lessons from Japanese benchmark cases. Tokyo: Asian Development Bank Institute.
Lam, P. D. (2019). Will Thailand's Chinese high - speed railway be worth it? Retrieved May 11, 2019, from https://thediplo mat.com/2019/03/will-thailands-china-built-railway-be-worth-it/.
Lauridsen, L. S. (2019). Drivers of China’s regional infrastructure diplomacy: The case of the Sino - Thai railway project. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 1 - 27.
Li, L. & Liu, S. (2018). High - speed railway competition between China and Japan based on benefits. Journal of Discrete Mathematical Sciences and Cryptography, 21(4), 907 - 915.
Li, Y., Yang, B. & Cui, Q. (2019). The effects of high - speed rail on air passenger transport in China. Applied Economics Letters, 26(9), 745 - 749.
Matichon Online. (2017, December 6). Ākhom phœ̄i Thai mai dai longthun khrōngkān khanāt yai mānān kō̜ rot tit - khrōngkān phư̄nthān mai phō̜ chū rō̜ fō̜ thō̜ khwāmreo sūng khō̜ng ratthabān [Akom, Minister of Transport, said Thailand haven’t invested in mega infrastructures for a long time, so this country lacks the essential infrastructures. Then, the government promotes the high - speed railway project]. Retrieved July 20, 2018, from https://www.matichon.co.th/news/756121.
Ministry of Tourism and Sport. (2019). Sathiti dān kānthō̜ngthīeo pī 2561 [Domestic tourism statistic in 2018]. Retrieved April 10, 2019, from https://www.mots.go.th/more_news.php?cid=502 &filename=index.
Ministry of Transport. (2017). Khrōngkān khwāmrūammư̄ rawāng ratthabān hǣng rātchaʻānāčhak Thai kap ratthabān hǣng sāthāranarat prachāchon Čhīn nai kānphatthanā rabop rotfai khwāmreo sūng phư̄a chư̄am yōng phūmiphāk chūang Krung Thēp Mahā Nakhō̜n khō̜ nō̜ng khāi (raya thī nưng: chūang Krung Thēp Mahā Nakhō̜n - Nakhō̜n Rātchasīmā [Thailand - China high - speed railway cooperation on Bangkok - Nong Khai (Bangkok - Nakhom Ratchasima) towards regional connectivity]. Retrieved March 22, 2019, from https://bit.ly/2WkXCcd.
Minn, M. (2013). The political economy of high speed rail in the United States. Mobilities, 8(2), 185 - 200.
National Statistical Office. (2019). ‘Ubattihēt kānčharā čhō̜n thāng bok [Road incident statistic]. Retrieved June 11, 2019, from http://service.nso.go.th/nso/web/statseries/statseries21.html.
Oh, Y. A. (2018). Power asymmetry and threat points: Negotiating China’s infrastructure development in Southeast Asia. Review of International Political Economy, 25(4), 530 - 552.
Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council. (2018).Khō̜thetčhing kīeokap sathānakān khwām lam nai prathēt Thai [The fact of inequality situation in Thailand]. Retrieved July 20, 2019, from https://www.nesdb.go.th/ewt_news.php?nid=8490.
Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council. (2018).Phǣn phatthanā phāk tawan‘ō̜k chīang nư̄a nai chūang phǣn phatthanā sētthakit læ sangkhom hǣng chāt chabap thī 12 (Phō̜.Sō̜.sō̜ngphanhārō̜ihoksip - sō̜ngphanhārō̜ihoksipsī) [Thailand’s Northeastern development plan in the 12nd national economic and social development plan (2017 - 2021)]. Retrieved April 22, 2019, from https://www.nesdb. go.th/ewt_dl_link.php?nid=7526.
Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning. (2014). Khrōngkān sưksā læ ‘ō̜k bǣp rotfai khwāmreo sūng sāi Krung Thēp - nō̜ng khāi raya thī 2 chūang Nakhō̜n Rātchasīmā - nō̜ng khāi [The project of study and design on Bangkok - Nong Khai high - speed railway (Nakhon Ratchasima - Nong Khai)]. Retrieved February 5, 2019, from http://www.otp.go.th/uploads/tiny_uploads/ProjectOTP/2557/project5/ReportExecutive SumTH.pdf.
Pavlićević, D. & Kratz, A. (2018). Testing the China threat paradigm: China's high - speed railway diplomacy in Southeast Asia. The Pacific Review, 31(2), 151 - 168.
Pollution Control Department. (2018). Sathānakān læ kānčhatkān panhā monlaphit thāng ʻākāt læ sīang khō̜ng prathēt Thai pī 2560 [Thailand’s air quality and noise management in 2017]. Retrieved June 11, 2019, from http://air4thai.pcd.go.th/webV 2/download.php.
Punyaratabandhu, P. & Swaspitchayaskun, J. (2018). The political economy of China - Thailand development under the One Belt One Road Initiative: Challenges and opportunities. The Chinese Economy, 51(4), 333 - 341.
Sussangkarn, C. & Ongkittikul, S. (2013). Kānchai prayōt čhāk rabop rotfai thī chư̄am yōng prathēt phư̄anbān phư̄a hai Thai pen sūnklāng thāng sētthakit læ kānthō̜ngthīeo khō̜ng phūmiphāk [The usefulness of inter - states railroad to Thailand for regional economic and tourism center]. Retrieved May 30, 2018, from http://tdri.or.th/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/wb96. pdf.
Thansettakij. (2017, June 22). Sō̜ nō̜ khō̜ čhǣng praden rotfai khwāmreo sūng Thai - Čhīn [OTP explains about Thailand - China high - speed railway project]. Retrieved July 20, 2018, from http://www.thansettakij.com/content/167285.
The Standard. (2019). Thai kwāt rāidai thō̜ngthīeo ʻandap sī khō̜ng lōk chư̄a pīnī tō īk rō̜ila sip nakthō̜ngthīeo Čhīn - Āsīan yang pen talāt lak [In 2018, Thailand ranks 4th in tourism income in the world and believe this year to grow by 10%. Chinese and ASEAN tourists are still the main target group]. Retrieved June 30, 2019, from https://thestandard.co/travel-income-rank ed-4th-in-the-world/.
The World Bank. (2014). Regional economic impact analysis of high speed rail in China. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
Wu, S. & Chong, A. (2018). Developmental rail politics: The political economy of China’s high - speed rail projects in Thailand and Indonesia. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 40(3), 503 - 526.
Zha, W. E. N. (2015). Personalized foreign policy decision - making and economic dependence: A comparative study of Thailand and the Philippines’ China policies. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 37(2), 242 - 268.
Zhao, H. (2019). China - Japan compete for infrastructure investment in Southeast Asia: Geopolitical rivalry or healthy competition?. Journal of Contemporary China, 28(118), 558 - 574.
Interviewees:
Officer no. 1. Office of Transport and traffic Policy and Planning (OTP). 16 August 2018.
Officer no. 2. Office of Transport and traffic Policy and Planning (OTP). 16 August 2018.
Officer no. 3. State Railway of Thailand (SRT). 7 September 2018.
Officer no. 4. State Railway of Thailand (SRT). 7 September 2018.