Thai northeasterners to benefit from many new infrastructure plans

BANGKOK, June 8 (TNA) - People in the Thai Northeast and adjacent areas will first benefit from the government's new mega infrastructure development plans, totally worth about two trillion baht. Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt said on Saturday that the construction of an inter-provincial motorway linking Bang Pa-in in Ayutthaya province with Saraburi and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces in the Thai Northeast will be the first project to be implemented after a bill allowing the Thai government to borrow the two-trillion-baht fund to finance the new mega-projects nationwide is approved by the Parliament. Chadchart acknowledged that the government's investment on revamping transportation systems in the Thai Northeast requires more than 400 billion baht and the construction of the motorway is one of several projects in the region. According to the transport minister, the 196-kilometre-motorway alone will take about 84.6 billion baht for investment but it will save travelling time, as commuters spend only 90 minutes to reach the destination, compared to five hours now. On a high-speed train project running between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima, considered as a gateway to the Northeast, the transport minister assessed that the project should be tabled for an environmental impact assessment committee for further consideration within July 2013, noting that its fares have not been fixed yet because concerned officials have not yet calculated the number and income of would-be passengers travelling on the route. (TNA)