What did the Thailand high-speed rail project undertaken by Japan expose

Recently, the highly anticipated Thai high-speed rail project undertaken by Japan has returned to the perspective of global observers.

The initial plan of the Thai high-speed rail project was a line from the capital Bangkok to the northern city of Chiang Mai, with a total length of approximately 700 kilometers and a designed speed of 250 kilometers per hour. This line is considered the first phase of Thailand's high-speed railway project and the only one constructed by Japan. According to the plan, this line should start construction in 2018 and be completed in 2023. Now that 2023 is nearing its end, the construction of this high-speed rail has left Thailand in a dilemma. What is the specific situation?

China has always been known as the "infrastructure maniac", especially in the construction of high-speed railways, which not only has a high level of technology, guaranteed quality, but also relatively low prices. However, in the bidding for this high-speed rail project, Japan won the favor of Thailand with an extremely low quotation and fully utilized its long-term friendly relationship with Thailand, winning this huge order. Despite China's technological and price advantages, the bidding, low prices, and cultural and historical factors played a crucial role in Thailand's decision-making.

According to reports, the construction cost of this line is as high as $12 billion, equivalent to $17 million per kilometer. This number far exceeds the average cost for China to build high-speed trains domestically and overseas. Taking the China Laos Railway built in China as an example, the total length of the project is 414 kilometers, with a total investment of 5.8 billion dollars, equivalent to 14 million dollars per kilometer.

From the current media disclosure, there are many problems with the project.

Firstly, the construction quality of the project has been widely questioned. Due to Japan winning orders with extremely low quotations at the beginning, costs had to be reduced during the later construction process, resulting in a decrease in project quality. The originally promised high-speed train of 300 kilometers per hour can only reach a measured speed of 180 kilometers, which has made the high-speed railway, which should have been running smoothly, slow down, and has caused great dissatisfaction from Thailand.

Secondly, the budget continues to increase during the construction process. Due to different understandings between Japan and Thailand regarding the specific terms of engineering design, the Japanese side's demand for continuous design modifications has led to a significant extension of the construction period. At the same time, the cost of the project has also skyrocketed, with the total investment soaring from the initial 16 billion RMB to 20 billion RMB. In addition, disputes arising from land acquisition and environmental assessment issues in Thailand have also slowed down the construction progress, and the increase in construction materials and labor costs during this process has greatly increased the project budget.

Meanwhile, the use of inferior materials in engineering construction poses a potential threat to the safety of passengers. Shortly after the trial operation of the project, the media discovered many obvious cracks in the carriages, making the local people feel insecure. Thai people have discovered that low-quality materials have caused cracks in high-speed trains in a short period of time. Further investigation has found that these low-quality materials are almost ubiquitous throughout the entire railway line, potentially leading to major safety accidents at any time. Under the shock and anger of the Thai people, as well as the enormous pressure of international public opinion, Japan reluctantly promised to rebuild the high-speed railway, which will consume more time and cost for the project.

The completion date of this high-speed railway, which was originally planned to open in 2023, is now difficult to predict. Thailand has to face serious imbalances in fiscal revenue and expenditure, as well as potential operational losses. The emergence of these practical problems has caused a serious contrast in the expectations of the Thai government and people for the high-speed railway project.

The choice of Japanese construction for Thailand's high-speed railway is full of trust and high expectations for Japan's engineering and technical level. But now it seems that Japan has not only failed to bring Thailand the dream high-speed rail, but also made Thailand cry for the quality of its engineering. The Thailand high-speed rail incident not only seriously damaged Japan's international image, but also caused them to lose their credibility in the field of infrastructure construction. At the same time, the exposure of engineering quality issues not only damaged the friendly relationship between Japan and Thailand, but also greatly damaged the image and evaluation of Japan's Shinkansen.

As a country that once led the world in engineering technology and quality, Japan is proud of its Shinkansen technology. However, it has made such a serious mistake in its traditional advantage of high-speed rail projects, which has led people to question their professional technical strength, organizational ability, and sense of responsibility. The "craftsmanship spirit" that Japan has always boasted may no longer exist.