Laos, Thailand mark first direct passenger train between Bangkok, Vientiane

The first direct passenger train between Bangkok and Vientiane arrived earlier this month. 

Previously, passengers could ride from Bangkok to the Thai city of Nong Kai on the border with Laos. But now they can travel straight into Vientiane – and also have the option of transferring to the high-speed rail line that travels north to Kunming in southwest China. 

The first State Railway of Thailand train began servicing the route on July 19. A return train on July 20 left Vientiane at about 6:25 p.m. and arrived in Bangkok at about 7:35 a.m. the next day. 

Prices ranged from between 158,000 kip (U.S. $7) to 530 million ($24) kip. It was so popular that officials provided an additional carriage after passengers bought most of the available tickets.

“I always commuted by train when I was studying,” one Lao passenger told Radio Free Asia. “I wanted my kids to take this train, so they could experience it.”

Eventually, passengers could travel from Bangkok and Vientiane on a high-speed rail line.

Earlier this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Thailand’s prime minister that he hopes to speed up construction of a high-speed rail line in Thailand that would connect with Laos’ high speed line, which China built in 2021 as part of its Belt & Road Initiative.

China has said that it plans to construct and connect a 3,000-kms (1,864-miles) pan-Asian railway network, in which Chinese rail lines would extend all the way to the tip of the Malay Peninsula, linking Beijing to Singapore.

RFA Lao, part of Radio Free Asia, a news organization affiliated with BenarNews, produced this report.