High Speed Rail Network Approved for Pattaya

High speed passenger rail service will be available in Pattaya and the eastern region before offered to any other region according to new government funding. This is because the major shipping ports, international airports, industrial estates and tourism is in the region from Bangkok to Pattaya and the eastern Seaboard.

Bangkok resolved some of the traffic congestion and offered a fast transportation alternative for commuters with Skytrain and subway. Now, Pattaya and the region are getting Thailand’s first high speed commuter train service offering stops in Pattaya, Chonburi, Sriracha and all the way from Bangkok to near the Cambodian border in Chanthaburi thanks to the State Railway of Thailand and government funding of our tax revenues.

The economic ministers in Bangkok in November approved a portion of a 700 billion baht project and allocated 100 billion baht for a new, high-speed train to operate along four routes, from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Nong Khai, Padang Besar and Chanthaburi which will provide service through Pattaya and Rayong.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva held off the plan calling for funding of more than 700 billion baht and instructed the minister to focus on the route between Bangkok and Rayong.

The long-term proposal was for the development of four high speed train routes. Bangkok to Chiang Mai (754km), Bangkok to Nong Khai (615km), Bangkok to Chanthaburi (330km), and Bangkok to Padang Besar (985km) routes will be built with 700 billion baht over the next ten years.

However, Mr Abhisit put the brakes on the whole plan worth more than 700 billion baht and instructed the minister to focus on the route between Bangkok and Rayong.

This route was viewed as a high priority as it will be facilitating business people traveling between Bangkok and the Eastern Industrial Estates around Pattaya and Rayong as well as connecting travel to the ports of Laem Chabang, Sriracha and Map Ta Phut and the Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi International Airports in Bangkok and the Utapoa-Pattaya International Airport in Pattaya, Permanent Secretary for Transport Supoj Saplom said.

“This will also decrease traffic congestion in Pattaya and offer an alternative means of fast transportation to visitors and residents alike. Thailand continues to move to the forefront of Asian countries in developing infrastructure improvements and modernization of commuter transportation. Property values along the railroad tracks where the existing passenger train stations are located on Soi Siam Country Club in Central Pattaya and the station on Soi Wat Yarn to the south near Ban Amphur Beach past Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens should increase substantially with the passenger terminals nearby,” said
Drew Noyes, a local investor.

Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu said that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva instructed the Transport Ministry to first focus on the eastern route as it is the shortest at about 330 kilometers and the most populated. The detailed investment plan offering a Bangkok-Rayong high speed train will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval by the end of this year.

The Finance Ministry was instructed to finalize the financing options, including China's offer to loan US $400 million and private companies' participation. Staporn Kavitanond, chairman of the economic advisory team to Mr. Abhisit, opined the government should accelerate the development of the high speed train project by allowing this private investment. He said the route could serve the public demand and encourage the reduction of private car use, especially on roads that experience traffic jams on the weekends from Bangkok to the resort city of Pattaya.

Narong Pomlaktong, a research director for the Thailand Development Research Institute, said the government needed to subsidize train services so people could enjoy lowpriced public transportation.

Originally called the Royal State Railways of Siam begun in 1894, the railway is now called the State Railway of Thailand and it is the largest state enterprise of Thailand and about to get much bigger.

This news of modernized, high speed train service is warmly received by environmentalist, conservationists, commuters and tourists. This new mass transit service when implemented will significantly reduce travel times between destinations in Thailand and will rival European passenger train service, said one of the members of the design team.

Also approved or discussed were the following points of legislation:

• Staporn Kavitanond, chairman of the economic advisory team to Mr Abhisit said the plan to link Laos by rail should also be accelerated to develop a better logistic route from China.
• The ministers also acknowledged the planned establishment of a subsidiary to operate the Airport Rail Link project.
• The economic ministers authorized the Transport Ministry to undertake a study of a railway to link Laos via Bua Yai district in Nakhon Ratchasima, Mukdahan and Nakhon Phanom. The initial budget for this project is 30 billion baht.
• Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu said ministers also approved a 110 billion baht reform plan for the State Railway of Thailand to improve rail safety and services.
• The ministers also approved a reform plan to improve State Railway of Thailand standard service to ensure safety and increase the speed of train services.

The Transport Ministry is required to propose details of its plan to the National Economic and Social Development Board this week.