New | Thailand pins growth hopes on big infrastructure projects, but outlays tiny so far
Thai-Chinese rail line has gone nowhere after 13 bilateral meetings
Thailand’s military government aims to jolt its underperforming economy into action with US$40 billion of big-ticket investment projects - but so far nearly all the plans remain just that, with less than 1 per cent of the amount spent.
One example is a jointly-built Thai-Chinese rail line. It has gone nowhere after 13 bilateral meetings due to disagreements over cost, financing and land rights. Thailand now says it intends to start the project by itself.
The junta has approved a majority of 20 proposed big-ticket projects it aims to build by 2022, which the transport minister estimated will cost 1.41 trillion baht ($40.63 billion). But it had only disbursed 11.3 billion baht, 0.8 per cent of the total, by August 19.
There’s a risk Thailand “would not be able to implement all the large public infrastructure plans,” said Kiatipong Ariyapruchya, a World Bank economist.
The World Bank said factors behind delays include an unclear appraisal process, slow procurement and lengthy environmental impact assessment and approval.
There’s a risk Thailand “would not be able to implement all the large public infrastructure plans”
Thailand’s infrastructure ranking in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index fell to 44 in 2015-2016 from 38 in 2006-2007.