Under the scaffolding of the North Standard Province, Thailand's Deputy Minister of Transport, Siriphon Onsakunji, looked up at the elevated bridge piers being poured, with the four story station body of the North Standard Province high-speed railway station exposed behind it. The steel dragon stretching from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima is stuck at a delicate juncture: it has done more than half of the work, but its pace is one-third slower than originally planned.

The first phase of the China Thailand high-speed railway has a total length of 250.77 kilometers, with 6 stations and a total investment of 179.41 billion Thai baht (approximately 39.9 billion yuan), consisting of 14 civil engineering contracts and 1 train system contract. The latest account book shows that the actual progress is 55.978%, the planned progress is 90.487%, and the gap is 34.509%. The Thai Ministry of Transport has not changed its stance and still has the goal of opening the Bangkok Nakhon Ratchasima section by 2030.

Beibiao Prefecture rushes to work

Xilipong is heading south to Beibiao Prefecture this time, focusing on the 4-7 section (from Beibiao Prefecture to Gengkui section). This section of road is 12.99 kilometers long, with a progress of 73.25%, only 8.25% slower than the plan, which is considered fast in the first phase of the entire line. The elevated railway structure and track components are being synchronously promoted. As a four story elevated station, the North Standard Mansion Station has a progress of 29.30%, with two 450 meter platforms and four tracks planned. In the future, it will connect to both high-speed rail and long-distance conventional passenger transportation.

The Deputy Minister has given two final orders to the State Railway of Thailand (SRT): one is to tighten overall planning and schedule management, and the other is to prioritize safety above all else. Construction sites adjacent to existing operating railways and public roads must be protected against risks of falling, intrusion, and cross operation; Key areas such as tunnels should be equipped with accident prevention and emergency response mechanisms.

Stuck in Section 4-1

The real obstacle is not Beibiao Prefecture, but the 4-1 section (Bangsu to Langman section) that has not yet been excavated. This 15.21-kilometer-long line is partially aligned with the high-speed railway of the three airports. The original private contractor has withdrawn, and SRT is studying to separate the aligned part from the original contract and re tender it separately. The Ministry of Transport is going to give the ball to the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Committee, waiting for its statement on the revised PPP plan for the three airport high-speed rail. It is expected to finalize the 4-1 follow-up path by the end of 2026.

The plan of the Thai side is very clear: to prioritize the construction of a collinear structure, so that the China Thailand high-speed railway can be used in the future, and the high-speed railway connection from Don Mueang Airport to Suvarnabhumi Airport can also be used, with one sum of money going to two places. To fill the gap of approximately 22 billion to 24 billion Thai baht in civil engineering tracks, SRT also plans to apply to the Cabinet for an additional 18 billion to 19 billion Thai baht to redirect funds from the three airport high-speed rail funding pools.

In addition to sections 4-1 and 4-5 (from Banpo to Pakai), they were also demolished and rebuilt due to issues such as the coordination of the Dacheng Station World Heritage landscape and the height of the track lowering surface, which took nearly a year to complete the design survey. The 3-3 section (Bandaima Lantakong section) has just been approved by the board of directors to extend the construction period by 655 days, citing slow land delivery and difficulty in changing the existing double track alignment. Among the 14 civil engineering contracts for the first phase of the entire line, 2 have been completed, 10 are under construction, and 2 have not yet started. It is these two cards that have dragged down the overall progress.

The second phase is coming soon

The first phase is still filling the pit, and the second phase is already waiting. The section from Nakhon Ratchasima to Langkai is 357.12 kilometers long, with 5 stations and a total investment of 256.4 billion Thai baht (approximately 57 billion RMB). The environmental impact assessment and cabinet approval have been completed. The Thai side plans to complete the bidding contract by 2026, with a construction period of about 48 months and a target completion date of 2031. The north end of Phase II is connected to Langkai, opposite to Boten, Laos, and then to the China Laos Railway, which connects Bangkok Vientiane Kunming.

After the Thai Prime Minister's visit to China in July, the joint statement between China and Thailand clearly included "accelerating the first phase and launching the second phase". During the same period when the land bridge project was suggested to be terminated, both sides pressed the fast forward button on the railway - for Thailand, getting the train from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima running first is more urgent than any long-term dream of a port bridge.keywords:Engineering infrastructure

There are only four construction years left until 2030. When Xilipong left Beibiao Prefecture, the crane was still spinning and the welding flower fell down. The 34.5% gap will not shrink on its own, but the Thai side will list the three issues of unfinished contracts, co production restructuring, and additional budget together, at least indicating that this path is no longer pretending to be on time, but is carefully calculating how to be less late.Editor/Yang Meiling