The Thai government recently approved two core contracts for the Thailand-China railway project, paving the way for the two countries to sign both early next month.

A week after the design contract was given the nod, the Thai cabinet gave the green light for the Construction Supervision Consultant Services Agreement for the first phase of the project on Aug 29. It approved a budget of 3.5 billion baht ($103 million), which was an increase from the 1.6 billion baht provided earlier.

Thailand and China will sign the contracts during Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's visit to China this week, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said on Aug 29.

Prayut is set to attend dialogues between the leaders of BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - emerging economies and other developing countries on the sidelines of the BRICS summit being held from Sep 3-5 in Xiamen, Fujian province.

"Signing these two contracts are necessary for the beginning of the construction," Kobsak Pootrakool, vice-minister at the Thai Prime Minister's Office, told media after the cabinet meeting.

As for the increased budget, Kobsak explained that new works, mainly aiming to keep the construction site safe, have been added into the supervision contract of the project.

The first phase of the railway, a 253-kilometer high-speed railway running from the capital Bangkok to the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, was approved by the Thai cabinet in July, with an estimated 179 billion baht in funding.

A planned second phase will run from Nakhon Ratchasima to Nong Khai on Thai-Lao border and will join with the China-Laos railway, forming the artery railway from Bangkok to Kunming in Southwest China's Yunnan province.

Sections of the planned cross-border railway outside Thailand are already under construction, such as the China-Laos railway.

Xinhua

(China Daily 09/05/2017 page14)