Thailand aims to establish its first high-speed rail connection to China via Laos, enhancing trade and relations. The 609-kilometer network, part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, promises economic growth despite current delays.

Thailand expects to complete its first high-speed rail network linking the country to China through Laos in 2030, a long-delayed project officials have touted as key to furthering bilateral relations and trade between the two nations.

Thailand started the construction of the high-speed rail network in 2017 under the Chinese government’s Belt and Road Initiative, according to the project’s website. The Thai government is responsible for entire project investment, civil works construction, and application of Chinese construction technologies and railway systems.

Vietnam plans to build a 1,541 km (958-mile) high-speed rail line linking its two biggest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, at a cost of more than $67 billion, targeting the sta

Thailand has announced that its section of the high-speed railway, which will connect the country with China through Laos, is slated to begin operations in 2030, marking a delay of nearly a decade from the original timeline of 2021.

By 2030, the US$13 billion Thai network is expected to connect to the Laos-China high-speed railway via a bridge over the Mekong River.