Doubts raised about benefits from rail project
LOCAL PEOPLE in Khon Kaen and Saraburi are still wondering what they stand to gain from the 837-kilometre Sino-Thai mega-railway project.
“Opportunities for Khon Kaen people to participate in the railway project are still in doubt,” Samart Angwararong, former president of the Federation of Thailand Industry’s Khon Kaen Chapter, said at a market-sounding seminar late last month.
“How can we be sure we’ll reap benefits from it?” he asked.
The two provinces are among five where the Transport Ministry plans to hold market-testing seminars over the past month in order to inform local people of what benefits they will get from the project and to hear their requests.
At the seminars, authorities tried to convince the participants that the projects would bring high economic returns, as the country could save fuel, reduce road accidents, halt city dispersion urban migration and promote economic expansion that would lead to better livelihood and wealth for the people.
However, many people attending both events said they did not want the Sino-Thai railway project if it just made the local areas a passageway for a lot of foreign tourists and business travellers, causing more pollution and waste caused by the rising number of industrial estates and people.
Local people could not have real benefits from the project, even any right to use commercial areas developed around the rail stations.
Khon Kaen was designated to be a hub of logistics transport and distribution in the Northeast. Agricultural and processed products will get a competitive advantage in terms of logistics costs and industrial parks will relocate there. Now the province has only one park for auto parts.
Saraburi was planned to be a logistics hub, as it’s recognised as a home of the ceramic industry as well as other manufacturers of building materials. Saraburi aims to become a hub of green and health food industries.
However, the two provinces are expected to suffer the most from the Sino-Thai railway project.
Khon Kaen’s Ban Phai district will be cut in half by the railroad while Saraburi’s Muang district will be cut into four quarters if the railroad passes through, in conjunction with Phaholyothin Road, which already divides the city into two.
At the Khon Kaen seminar, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said the reason why the country would have a 1.435-metre gauge railroad was because the world had changed. Connectivity should be taken into account for every transport system.
“The Sino-Thai railway project cooperation is not new. What’s new is the [investment] figure, which is still being estimated and is going into detail as the technology has been changed,” he said.
He said the government had not made more concessions for China to make a greater investment in the project since the two parties signed their memo of understanding.
Local people were also worried about huge capital flows from China that may affect small firms.
At the Khon Kaen seminar, Samart said about 40 per cent of the province’s income came from industry. However, over the past 10 years, most of the operators were from the central region and abroad.
Large operators were ready to tackle market competition. But SMEs, owned by local people, may not be. “I have never seen any local operators get the right to jointly develop land surrounding the railroad stations as commercial areas, even the right to open a coffee shop,” he said.
Should investors be from China if the government says there will be industries to invest in? Who will get the most resources? These questions were raised. For instance, when Chinese investors come to buy rice here, they are interested in renting paddy fields to grow rice rather than buying rice from locals.
Rice mills and logistics transport may be run by Chinese firms. “We want a clear policy for what we can participate in, in the project, or what privileges we can receive for our participation,” he said.
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