Prosperity, Security and Politics: OBOR and the Chinese High-Speed Railway Project in Thailand

Governing elites in Southeast Asia are preoccupied with high-speed railways, which are also a cornerstone in China’s new Silk Road initiative - the “One Belt, One Road.” Chinese political leaders have in recent years travelled around Southeast- and Central Asia to promote Chinese high-speed railway systems. The Thai military junta has decided to go forward with four high-speed railway lines. Chinese state-owned enterprises will construct the Northeast-South line. The article analyses the economic and political-security drivers behind the land-based part of the new silk road vision as well as rationales behind the Sino-Thai high-speed rail project. It is argued that there are multiple motives behind the “One-Road-One-Belt” initiative and that the Sino-Thai project is driven by a mixture economic and security concerns on the Chinese side, while it on the Thai side combines the need for economic stimulation, signalling to a powerful friend and domestic politics concerns.