High-speed train may help visa runners, but not from Phuket

PHUKET: Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said this afternoon that construction of the Nong Khai-Bangkok-Padang Besar high-speed train will start next year and be completed in four years.

Nong Khai is a northern Thai town on the border with Laos, often transited by foreigners in Phuket on visa runs to Vientiene.

Padang Besar (PB) is a border town in the northern part of Malaysia’s Perlis state, situated about 70km southwest of Hatyai, Thailand.

The new high-speed rail line is thus well over 100 kilometers east of Phuket and will not pass through Phuket on it’s run between Bangkok and PB.

Suthep said he visited China to discuss the project in detail on Saturday.

Suthep said the Chinese government asked him to speed up drafting conditions and seek parliamentary approval before the construction contract will be signed in March or April.

Suthep said he also asked China to provide soft loans for the construction.

— Nation / Gazette editors