Summary：China is more interested in the project than other countries because this railway will linkus to China.

"China is more interested in the project than other countries because this railway will link

us to China," said Damrong Kraikuan, director-general of the Thai Foreign Ministry’s East

Asia department.

Wen reiterated Beijing’s interest in plans to build a high-speed railway from Bangkok to

Chiang Mai, 600 kilometres to the north, and Nong Khai, 450 kilometres to the north-east.

"The Chinese have already sent us their proposals on participating in the projects," Damrong

said.

Thailand has yet to set bidding conditions on the multi-billion dollar plan that is a core

mega-project of the current administration.

The Bangkok-Nong Khai railway will link to Laos, which has announced plans to start

construction in January on a 7-billion-dollar railway from Vientiane to the Chinese border,

to be completed in 2018, according to state media reports.

Laos plans to finance it with a Chinese loan. The 420-kilometre project will use a standard

-gauge track of 1.435 metres and require the construction of 76 tunnels and 154 bridges.

China’s outgoing premier visited Bangkok after attending the East Asia Summit in

neighbouring Cambodia.

"Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Xintao have done much over the past 10 years to

transform China into an economic superpower,"Yingluck said. "I hope the new leadership will

take the economy forward."