On 25 June 2021, Mr. Saksayam Chidchob, Thai Minister of Transport, and Mr. Ning Jizhe, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China, co-chaired the 29th meeting of the joint committee for Thai-Chinese railway cooperation which was held via video conference. Participants included representatives from the Department of Rail Transport, the State Railway of Thailand, and relevant agencies.
During the meeting, the Minister of Transport mentioned the roles and achievements of Thailand in promoting connectivity in the country, the Mekong Subregion and the ASEAN region. He also proposed further cooperation between Thailand and China at the bi-lateral, regional and international levels under the This-Chinese Cooperation Framework and in line with Thailand’s national policy and agenda as well as his vision and policy. The main objectives were to enhance public well-being and strengthen supply chains for sustainable economic recovery so as to achieve the vision of “Making it Better” with no one being left behind according to the Prime Minister’s policy. The meeting agenda included:
- The Thai party updated the progress of the first phase of civil works for the high-speed railway project from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima, most of which had commenced. An office of project management was established to expedite the construction and both parties agreed to exert the greatest possible effort to complete the construction in due course.
- The Chinese party acknowledged the project progress as updated by the Thai party. The Thai party had already reached a conclusion on the detailed design and the study result was almost completed. With respect to the request by for the Chinese party to provide design inspection consultants, the Chinese party offered that a consultant service contract should be drawn up in line with related regulations. Both parties will subsequently discuss this matter to ensure compliance with the civil work and electrical and mechanical system standards.
- Both parties converse about railway connection between Nong Khai and Vientiane. The Thai party proposed a trilateral meeting of representatives from Thailand, Lao PDR and China to discuss the connecting route. Both parties will communicate with Lao PDR to organize monthly trilateral working group meeting to materialize the connection.
- Both parties conversed about the project’s Bang Sue–Don Mueang section and the High-speed Rail Linking Three Airports Project which share the same structure and track, and agreed to avoid affecting the implementation of Contract 2-3. Both parties will revise the detailed design of the Bang Sue–Don Mueang section in congruence with the Chinese standards. The technical working group will have a discussion to support the Thai party in addressing technical issues in this matter.
- Both parties agreed on the first draft annex to the CSC contract for civil works that had previously been discussed, and will sign the draft annex soonest after this meeting.
Finally, both parties agreed to hold the 30th joint committee meeting after the Thai-Chinese-Lao tripartite meeting.
