Chiang Rai News
Prime Minister Announces Construction of Railway from Phrae to Chiang Khong
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CHIANG RAI – The Prime Minister said the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) would soon begin the construction of a 323-kilometer railway from Denchai district of Phrae to Chiang Khong district of Chiang Rai after it was shelved 56 years ago.
The SRT is expected to convene a meeting next month to discuss this matter before proposing the construction plan to the Office of the National Economics and Social Development Board and seeking the Cabinet’s approval. It will cost the government approximately 76 billion baht. The project will take up to 4 years.
During his visit to Chiang Rai yesterday Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha said that several regional development projects in the Northern Provincial Cluster 2 have been proposed for his consideration.
During Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha’s visit to Chiang Rai a joint public-private committee overseeing the Northern Provincial Cluster 2 proposed six projects for Gen Prayut to consideration, including those aimed at promoting domestic tourism via Highway R3A, upgrading Nan province’s Huay Kon Border Check Point, and installing immigration services at Phayao’s Ban Huak Border Check Point.
The other three were the food industry development project in the Northern Provincial Cluster 2, the expansion of Highway 102 to accommodate commuters between Lampang and Phrae provinces and the development of water resource management for farming and domestic consumption in Phrae.
The meeting focused on a review of all committees’ proposals; they resolved to approve such proposals as tourism development and the promotion of a planned construction of an intra-regional route to connect Thailand with Laos and China, which is expected to boost tourism revenue in the country’s North by 20 percent each year, the development of border crossings in Nan and Playa, as well as the development of the food industry in the upper northern region.
PM Prayut told the meeting that the government has always taken into consideration all sides of any problems to find a solution while steering the country forward and strengthening the Thai people.