A cargo ship loaded with durians and industrial products is docked at Chumphon Port in the Gulf of Thailand. In the past, it could only travel south along the Malay Peninsula, circumnavigating the Strait of Malacca and taking several weeks to enter the Indian Ocean.

Now, a railway with a total length of only 110 kilometers is being planned, which will directly connect the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean with rails, allowing goods to cross the land between Chumphon and Lalang.

The Department of Railway Transport of Thailand stated that the feasibility study for the missing link project of the Chumphon Lalang railway has been initiated, with plans to bid in 2027 and complete it in 2030.

Pioneer of the Pan Asian Corridor

The significance of the Chunpeng Lalang Railway needs to be understood in the blueprint of the Pan Asian Railway network. By July 2026, the cumulative cross-border freight transport of the China Laos railway has exceeded 20 million tons, the average daily number of cross-border freight trains has increased from 2 at the beginning of the opening to 23 at the highest, and the number of goods transported has expanded from more than 10 to more than 3800, covering 19 countries and regions, including Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, etc.

This golden channel has proven over three years that the increase in trade brought about by railway connectivity far exceeds initial expectations. The China Laos Railway has realized the normalization of international intermodal transport modes such as the Lancang Mekong Express, the China Laos Railway+China Europe Regular Train, the China Laos Railway+the new land sea channel in the west.

The missing link in the connection

The Chunpeng Lalang Railway is the missing link in the Pan Asian Railway network. The project will connect China through the Langkai Vientiane Kunming railway and extend southward to Malaysia and Singapore, promoting Thailand as a regional logistics hub. An investment of approximately 27.2 billion Thai baht has been made, and detailed design has been completed. Currently, an environmental impact assessment report is being prepared. After completion, it will effectively shorten the transportation time of goods between China, Thailand, and ASEAN, promote freight connectivity between the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Thailand, and reduce dependence on the Malacca Strait route. Keywords: multimodal transport channel, trade channel

In November 2024, the multimodal train from Kunming, China to Ranong, Thailand has been successfully launched. It will directly reach Vientiane via the China Laos railway, and then deliver the goods to Ranong through the combination of railway and road transportation, so as to realize the operation connection between land port and sea port. Once the Chunpeng Lalang Railway is completed, this multimodal transport corridor will be upgraded to a whole railway network, and the land sea linkage picture of the the Belt and Road in Southeast Asia will become clearer.Editor/Cheng Liting