Thailand’s ruling junta approves China rail links worth $23bn

The Guardian

Friday 1 August 2014

ByKate Hodal

Thailand’s ruling junta hasapprove

• a $23 billion (£13.6bn) transportproject that will see two high-speed railways link up directly withChinaby 2021, in a move seen as a further consolidation of Chinese power in the region. The National Council for Peace and Order … unveiled plans this week connecting the northern border town of
• Nong Khai with Map Ta Phut, located south-east of Bangkok.
• Chaing Khong, just south of the Laos capital Vientiane, will also be connected to Ban Phachi, in the central Ayutthaya regions. The railway lines will link up
• directly to Kunming, in China’s southern Yunnan province, in what analysts have termed Chinese „high-speed railway diplomacy„. China is looking to build a3,000kmhigh-speed line
• fromKunmingall the way downto Singapore,passing