Thailand is aiming to complete the first phase of its high-speed railway linking the country to China by 2030, marking a major milestone in a regional rail network that will eventually stretch from Kunming in China to Singapore.
The first section of the project is a 250-kilometre line connecting Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima. It forms part of Thailand’s 609-kilometre contribution to the wider 3,900-kilometre Kunming-Singapore railway corridor.
According to the Thai government, more than one-third of the first phase has already been completed. The update was announced as Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul concluded a five-day official visit to China on 20 July.
Authorities are also preparing to begin construction of the second phase of the railway, which will extend the line from Nakhon Ratchasima to Nong Khai, a border town linking Thailand with neighbouring Laos.
Once completed, the Thai railway will connect directly to Laos’ high-speed rail network, which has been operating since 2021 and links the Laotian capital with Kunming in southern China.
The US$6 billion (about RM25.5 billion) Laos-China railway is approximately 70% owned by China and serves as a key section of the planned rail route connecting Bangkok and Kunming.
China has spent nearly two decades promoting the vision of a continuous railway linking Kunming to Singapore, with Kunming serving as the hub for three planned rail corridors extending through Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
Thailand is also developing a separate conventional railway that will connect northwards to Laos and southwards to Malaysia before eventually extending to Singapore.
Elsewhere in the region, Vietnam is also accelerating its railway ambitions. Construction began in December 2025 on the US$8.4 billion (about RM35.7 billion) Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong railway, which will connect the country’s largest northern port with China’s Yunnan Province. Vietnam is also targeting completion by 2030.
In addition, Hanoi is pushing ahead with plans for a US$67 billion (about RM285 billion) high-speed railway linking Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with contractors expected to be selected later this year.
