Thai-Chinese train project again delayed

Construction of two medium-speed railway routes under a Thai-Chinese agreement faces yet another delay, less than a month after the two countries pledged to speed up the project.

The delay emerged from the latest round of talks on Wednesday and Thursday in Beijing, a transport ministry source said on Friday.

It was earlier planned that construction would begin before the year's end. The two countries have now agreed in May 2016 as the new target month for the start of work, The Bangkok Post quoted the source as saying.

Thailand has awarded China the right to build two medium-speed train lines -- from Nong Khao to Map Ta Phut in Rayong province, and Kaeng Khoi district in Saraburi province to Bangkok.

The two countries agreed on October 9 to try to get the project going by December.

The train project with China, a total investment cost of around 400 billion baht (about $11 billion), was originally set to start off on October 23, but lack of agreement on several points keeps pushing it further into the future.