Student Commuter: High-Speed Rail in Southeast Asia
Turns out it’s not only Indonesia who made a deal with China to build high-speed rail; Thailand is doing it, too.
As we all know, Indonesia is due to operate the first high-speed rail in Southeast Asia, the KCIC, which stands for Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China, also known by its alias, the KCJB, Kereta Cepat Jakarta-Bandung, which hints at its route. This high-speed rail is supposedly planned to be operational for the public on the 18th of August this year, just the right time to celebrate what will be a day after Indonesia’s 78th anniversary. In short, this megaproject is definitely one that spurs up many opinions and controversies, ranging from locals, researchers, academics, and even politicians alike. But did you know that this is not the only high-speed rail project currently on progress in Southeast Asia?
I was really suprised to learn that Thailand, of all countries, turned out to also having plans to build their own high-speed rail. What’s more suprising is that they are also building it in collaboration with China. Like, wait what? On top of that, the high-speed trains that they are planning to operate turns out are still related to what we’ll be using on KCIC. And I could immediately guess that their project will also be a pain in the a** for them from a financial perspective. I mean, the only reason China is able to make those high-speed rail systems in their homeland is simply because their economy is as strong as Jackie Chan in his prime! (Granted, Jackie Chan is from Hong Kong but you get the idea).
As I was saying, I am quite surprised to learn that Thailand is also building a high-speed rail system not much different from ours, and also collaborating with China to do it. I’m a bit curious why they didn’t choose to collab with Japan, because I remember Japan was actually a candidate for being a partner for Indonesia’s high-speed rail masterplan. After all, they were the ones that brought high-speed rail to the mainstream with their Shinkansen, connecting Tokyo to Osaka all the way back in 1964. They proved that high-speed rail is possible, and trains won’t be superseded by other means of transport, be it cars or airplanes. If it weren’t for the Shinkansen, China won’t be able to build their own high-speed rail.
Based on my limited research, I can probably conclude the reason why Thailand is building their high-speed rail with China instead of Japan is not so different from ours; we both simply have better bilateral relations with China. I mean, us lot here in Indonesia, we pretty much know by now that Jokowi’s regime made a lot of deals with China in countless sectors. And perhaps things are not so different over in Thailand. They’re pretty much neighbors, despite not sharing any borders. And from what I know, Thailand’s high-speed rail system is planned to be part of a bigger system encompassing other nations in the Indochina region, such as Laos and Cambodia. And with them all sharing land borders with China, it only makes sense to build a system that is fundamentally similar to those already built by the Chinese.
This all may seem optimistic and promising, but our Thai friends will have to wait for a few more years for their high-speed rail to become fully operational, because from what I’ve read is that their system is expected to be fully completed by 2026 and fully operational not long after that. So, yeah, KCIC can still definitely boast about their system being ‘the first in Southeast Asia’, but that doesn’t mean the neighbors can’t keep up. I’m excited about what other high-speed rail systems that other countries in the region might be planning or even building in the coming decades. Maybe Malaysia and Singapore will revive their old plan that fell through, or even the Philippines might follow suit. But one thing’s for sure; I want to see Japan crashing the party and become a real challenger for China in the high-speed rail market. Come on, lads. You lot literally built the Shinkansen! Building another system abroad should just be a walk in the park, right?