“DAVID AND GOLIATH”
It is the latest in a series of delays to the project, first proposed to the Thai government back in 2010.
The junta led by Prayut pushed closer ties with China, leading some to fear that Thailand was abandoning its policy of trying to balance relations with Washington and Beijing.
Eventually, Prayut signed a deal for Thailand to cover all project expenditures, while using China-advised technology.
Benjamin Zawacki, author of “Thailand: Shifting Ground between the US and a Rising China”, says the long delays show that Bangkok is less keen on the project than Beijing, wary of getting drawn too deep into the Belt and Road web.
“The fact that it is taking this long is some evidence that Thais are not overwhelmingly enthusiastic about it,” he said.
High debts to China have been a constant worry for countries involved in the Belt and Road initiative, and the fact that Thailand is paying for the railway marks it out from neighbouring Laos, where the Vientiane-Boten line opened in 2021.
There, Beijing paid 70 per cent of costs and much of the Laos government’s contribution came from loans from Chinese banks.
Suthiphand Chirathivat, professor of economics at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, said the delays had helped Thailand take ownership of the rail project.
“This is now a Thai project working with China. We put our money, it is our own soil,” he told AFP.
“China is a Goliath, and Thailand a David. David has to take a stand.”