People’s Daily recently reported that the military government that is currently in-charge in Thailand just approved the resumption of the project to build two high-speed railways connecting Southern China. The project had been halted earlier due to political uncertainties and the Thailand Constitutional Court ruled in March that the entire infrastructure building project was unconstitutional. The new government started reviewing the railway project in May after taking over day-to-day government operations. According to the budget plan, the project is worth around US$23.2 billion. The construction is planned to begin next year. The resumed project plan, however, adjusted the target operating speed from 200 kilometers per hour down to 160. The government is still looking for ideas to bring the cost down further.
Source: People’s Daily, July 31, 2014
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2014/0731/c1002-25379272.html