Professional Documents
Culture Documents
• Parliament volatility
• The return of the high-speed railway projects in Thailand has been consequences
of economic and political considerations.
• Economic side – Engine of growth and dispersion of economic activities
• Political side – How rents and benefits from railway project are shared among social groups
Thailand’s first high-speed railway plan, 1991
Rents from high-speed railway project
Types of rents Actors Conditions
Monopolistic rents Chinese state-owned Bilateral negotiation;
- Construction contracts enterprises; Exclusive conditions in
- System works Local contractors bidding, for example, local
content
• Failed attempt
• Intra-government conflicts, especially between coalition parties
• Deputy Prime Minister and Transport minister, Sophon Saram
• End of government terms
• Coalition government and instability – Common narrative of Thai politics in the 1990s
• Despite favorable conditions from both China and Japan, the Yingluck
government decided to announce the international bidding.
• Nation-wide networks
• Unified operation and signaling system
• Flexibility in offers, for example, barter between railway equipment and primary products
Ⅱ. Electoral competition
• Political bases of the Yingluck government were voters, especially from the North
and Northeast, local politicians, and some factions of capitalists.
• Maximized votes and bargaining with politicians, who acted as intermediates of the party
• The choice of the opening international bid was not only a result of the
international politics, but also the contestation among domestic social forces.
• The proclamation to open a bid implied the Yingluck government had a certain
masterplan, which served the interests of the supporters.
• Nation-wide construction plan – Voters, local politicians, and real estate capitalists
• Loan bill – Voters, local politicians, and real estate capitalists
• Bidding used as leverage to preserve other rents – Voters and local politicians
• During the Yingluck government period, the high-speed railway changed from the
bureaucratic idea to the political agenda to win the popularity.
The Yingluck government’s high-speed railway policy (2011-2014)
Share of modes of transportation in the loan bills
Overload rice stock – Challenge of the Yingluck government
Ⅲ. Competition between electoral and conservative alliances
• Although the high-speed railway development was a key policy of the Yingluck
government, it could not achieve this policy.
• Electoral winning does not mean political domination in the Thai society.
• Majority government and votes in the parliament
• In spite of the compromise with the bureaucrats, the railway proposal was
dismissed by the conservative coalition, led by the judiciary and the army.
• Against the constitution – Loan bill
• Coup on May 22, 2014 – End of the Yingluck government
The judiciary and the executive in dispute on the high-speed railway project
NCPO – National Council for Peace and Order
Prayuth government and the high-speed politics
Internal coercion and external compromise
• As a military regime, the Prayuth government’s relationship with the Western
nations has deteriorated.
• However, Japan and China have still maintained their relation with Thailand.
• Enactment of the Article 44, “Excalibur” of the junta, to overcome the regulations
on labor and bidding to ‘rectify’ the project
Opening ceremony of Sino-Thai high-speed railway, December 21, 2017
Land clearance on the construction site, January 2018
Political bases of coercion
• In particular, the Article 44, which gives the legal absolute power, enables the
Prayuth government to bypass the regulations.
• The Prayuth regime has based on three groups of the conservative alliance.
• Military, bureaucrats (or technocrats), and big businesses
• Force, knowledge, and money
• The constellation of the interests groups, which form the supporting coalition of
the ruling government, and the state managers can shed some light on the
formulation of the policy proposal.
Indonesia Laos
- Consortium got permission documents. - BOT [build, operate and transfer]
- Signed a loan with CDB in May 2017, but CDB - Starting the construction process in
refused to release the loan, due to land December 2016
acquisition problem. - Continuity in construction processes
- Plan to start the construction in early 2018 - Hiring local Lao workers
- Land acquisition has forestalled the project
Your question are welcomed