The Transport Ministry is joining hands with its Malaysian counterpart to jointly develop a high-speed railway system connecting four members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Chayatan Phromsorn, permanent secretary for transport, on Tuesday welcomed Datuk Isham Ishak, his Malaysian counterpart, and companies from the neighbouring country to discuss ways of cooperating to build a railway system linking the two countries.
Other attendees included Punya Chupanit, director-general of the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning, Rail Transport director-general Pichet Kunadhamraks, and representatives of the State Railway of Thailand and the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand.
The Malaysian officials arrived after Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob issued an order to follow up on the Feb 25 talks between Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on the issue.
Malaysia earlier requested a high-speed rail connection with Thailand as a transit point to link up with Laos and China.
Both sides have exchanged information about the project and Malaysia agreed with the idea of Thailand forming a joint working panel to discuss such a railway system connecting China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. The panel has been instructed to have a plan in place by the time Asean next meets to discuss transportation issues.
Meanwhile, the first meeting of the Thailand and Malaysia Railway Joint Working Committee on Aug 5 was hailed as a success by both sides. It was held via a teleconference call and was chaired by the director-general of Thailand's Land Transport Department.
The two sides also discussed preparations for reopening the rail service from Sungai Kolok district in Narathiwat to Rantau Panjang in Malaysia's Kelantan state.