Travel: Take a train ride on the USD$6b Laos-China railway
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 20 авг 2022
- Stunning vistas, long tunnels through mountains. Demand is high for rides out of the Laos-China Railway in Vientiane. Launched recently in December, the USD$6 billion railway is a key project connecting inland China with Southeast Asia under its Belt and Road initiative. ST's Indochina Bureau Chief Tan Hui Yee reports.
SUBSCRIBE ➤ bit.ly/FollowST
Turn on notifications 🔔 to stay updated
--------------------
WEBSITE ➤ www.straitstimes.com
FACEBOOK ➤ / thestraitstimes
TIKTOK ➤ / straitstimes
INSTAGRAM ➤ / straits_times
TWITTER ➤ / straits_times
TELEGRAM ➤ t.me/TheStraitsTimes
PODCASTS ➤ str.sg/stpodcasts
#straitstimes #laosrailway #vientiane #laostravel
![XO (Only If You Say Yes) - ENHYPEN エンハイプン 엔하이픈 [Music Bank] | KBS WORLD TV 240712](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wBT1bKKwPTo/mqdefault.jpg)
Listen to Tan Hui Yee's immersive podcast - the sounds, facts and background behind this train journey: str.sg/wDoy
LOL its land for equity swap. No DEBT. i Know singapore willingly become US watch dog for the melaka straits but that is not the Excuse to LIE about.
Welcome to lao
Six billion is a bargain price for a high speed train going from one end of Laos to the other end. It's 422km long. It includes 167 bridges and 75 tunnels. 47% of railway is spanned over tunnels and 15% is set on bridges. On the other hand, Boston's Big Dig, which was a traffic project to reduce traffic congestion in Boston, costed around $24 billion. Instead of insinuating negativity such as debt trap, the reporter can be more positive by saying that the project improves people's life. That Laos is modernizing and developing. It even has a high speed train before the US.
totally agree. Six billion is really a bargain price for the railway that has to go through most tunnels and bridges in the world.
But was owned by china majority 😂😂
@@namazlur78 usa built pipeline in my country. Does that mean the pipeline was owned by usa majority? LOL... you are really jealous. 🤣🤣
CNA is CNN's illegitimate child, it has to trumpet its master's narratives.
@@namazlur78 so your country and some of the biggest companies in your cities have no big US or Eu owned businesses.
Dont be bias . It's just another anti China rhetoric.
China is bringing prosperity to the world.. through win win situation
Are you telling me the world doesn't like the US dropping bombs on everybody to spread democracy?
LMAO 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@lexus3983 something funny ? Got hit in your head ?
@@thunderdragon888 western countries bombing all over the world never got to your head, that’s a big joke
China is bombing other countries with railways, highways and ports just to name a few.
totally agree. Six billion is really a bargain price for the railway that has to go through the land flooded with bombs and through the most tunnels and bridges in the world.
From bombing and Agent Orange drenching in the 1960s and the 1970s, to a railway line that turns Laos into a land-line country. The bombing and Agent Orange drenching was carried by USA, the railway line was built by China.
Good news for Laos connecting to China...
Long live Laos and China
Taking a train ride on China HSR cost $6 taking on US locomotive cost $60 & moving like snail pace.
If the SHSR will open for the Philippines, the 100km trip will be approximately $3, as I estimated.
@@cyrusmarikitph it depends on your Congress and how many congressmen are bought by the CIA influence.
Can’t wait to visit Laos 🇱🇦
On the week of the opening of the China -Laos Railway, two more Laos workers were killed by bombs left by the U.S. military.
This is a good thing that China did for Laos and many parts of the world. Why stressed so much on the negatives like debt and Chinese company own (echoing western propaganda and lies), some minor inconveniences, strict security and dirt roads, and giving this good piece of work a negative connotation?
Yes totally agree. I have checked with more than 10 of my non chinese news reading friends, all talk about debt trap. None read about the better economic prospects, not only about Laos, but in concern with BRI and debt trap in African countries which China has built railway znd other infrastuctures. Sad is that they did not learn about many Chinese are there to help tge Africans in msking handicrafts, teach them how to sew how to plant crops and making shoes and other tools & equipment.
If u depend on the laotian govt to do it u wait till God comes again
Western msm has conditioned the masses to think negatively about anything connected with China, the daily negative drum beat hits home the results show, we have all become sheep 🐑
@@sleo3720 we will be called Chinese trolls or wumao. But in reality we are people who are not easily fooled.
Because educated from the west . Must be brainwashed to say bad things about Asian.
No matter the costs, this is a sure WIN for Laos, as long as they keep ticket prices affordable to the masses and not hike up prices to cater for the rich, like in the west (Nationalization and private ownership). With China to the North, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the dark horse Indonesia to the south, how can Laos not benefit from 2 way traffic from these major economies?
Laos is communist country, all infrastructure in these country are not aim to make money. Peripheral values are more important.
Without infrastructure, Roads, Rail, Ports, Schools, Hospitals Reservoirs and Waste Water Treat plants poor countries remain in a “POVERTY TRAP OF STAGNATION”. Infrastructure is the essential platform for countries to grow and modernize.
Ports? It's a landlocked country.
Wow!!
Such a great and huge transformation.
Laos is carrying 20% debt load by itself.... Should ask the US for money on cluster bombs clearing and damages which the US had dropped 270 million cluster bombs in Laos (1964-1974)....
"Exactly" Construction is better than USA Destruction.
America is obsolete
lao have high speed train and Singapore is still having slow MRT train and old lousy MRT tracks. Singapore is left behind.
Apples to oranges. You are basically comparing a Shinkansen to a Yamanote line.
Singapore does not have a large area, just need MRT and LRT
Same like you prefer RMB mah. Then SGD
@Cool Sparkz
Yeah. In reality, American trains are much worse, especially the New York Subway.
Singapore doesn't need a high speed rail network and its going to cost if you want it. Why spend over SGD 200 million for miniscule benefits? I would rather they spend the money on improving the reliability of the tracks/network.
There are high demand for quality railways like this around the world including the US.
The US likes bad infrastructure.
🤣🤣
How can Laos pay for it? Roughly, it'll take everyone's annual salary in Laos for 400 years to pay off six billion US dollars.
@@jasonlucas2328 just go to save Lao’s people by building another railway for free!
@@jasonlucas2328 laos ppls will dig out all the boms yankees droped and sell it back to yankees...... you could be one of the potential customer
That's how it all started in the West as well. Railways. Laos and the poorer towns at the border will certainly prosper soon.
🇱🇦 Laos 🇱🇦 will be changing quickly in Ten year's!!! Cause Laos sit in the middle of Asean!!!Mark my words!!!
if an area wants development, wants to get rich, roads (infrastructures) must be built first. Investment will be well paid off in the near future. Again and again, rapid economic developments in many rural/poor regions in China had proven the approach worked. Western media always pictures others as "stupid" to fall into debt trap.
Jia you China!!!
Jia you Laos!!!
Must learn to be more analytical like the economic potentials along the corridor etc. Get out of the negative Western narratives like debts etc. Did you borrow money to buy your home? South East Asian countries and Laos should thank China for providing the loan.
101% agree with you....we umbrage with such reporting from ST!
Sometimes I wonder whether the media outlets in Singapore are like loudspeakers connected to the US propaganda department.
The reporter should learn to speak more enthusiastically, rather than sleepily. It will definitely boost up your viewers. 😂😂
Fun fact: China helped Laos cleared most the land mines and unexploded bombs from Vietnam war era, just to build this project.
Railway lines are usually part of international trade and are very important for landlocked countries.
If you want to increase trade with the surrounding countries, you need good rail lines. Efficient transportation reduces costs, tourism develops after Covid-9 ends, movement of people drives consumption and raises taxes.
If you don't move forward, your neighbors will get better resources (money and opportunities) and time waits for no one.
For Laos $6 billion to build a high speed rail line may be expensive, consider the cost per kilometer for the same conditions, it's cheap. The later it is built the higher the cost (e.g. US, UK)
If there is no access to the sea, standard container freight trains are the only option for international trade for landlocked countries.
The debt trap is a joke if your country is functioning properly. Destroy and don't invest, God will give you the best?
The final rail link between Singapore-London/lisbon is completed. Sg-my-Th-la-cn-mg-Ru-bR-pl-DE-be-Fr-gb
Before this we always think of Thailand - Vietnam - China...😅
@@frankiechiuh3401 thailand link with Cambodia. But there is no rail link between Cambodia and Vietnam
If i cant sleep at night i need to listen to her voice
bonus: female Singlish accent
where are high speed railways in USA ???
It will be completed in 2033
The reporter does seem to have done any research on the trade impact of this railway connection.
I think you mean she didn't do any research on the trade impact of this railway connection. Correct? Or maybe not.
@@ssgoh4968 , Indeed, she may have zero understanding, just repeating what she hears!
@@pahatpahat9566 Indeed. More like western activism rather than journalism.
@@ssgoh4968 , indeed, wondering if she understands modern logistics at all!
western media style
❤❤❤❤❤❤
Why does the reporter sounds like she is down with fever, no energy or enthusiasm in her voice. The background music is from third rate horror movies.
yes.
You gave it a debt trap twist as usual. LOL. Then ask the West to build. You did not mention the number of land mines which needed to be cleared to build this railway? I do not like the casinos but that is private builder.
Villa Merry Lao BanAphay welcomes you to Luangprabang👌
👏👏👏👏
Great railway network ...
One country drops bombs on Laos and another country builds a railway for Laos. Which one is in favor of human rights and doing the right thing?
But the US is a democratic country so it has the right to bomb anywhere on earth. Bomb brings human rights to developing countries.
Welcome to lao 🥰
They need to put the sign of Vientiane Station in English.
Nice
Better than million tons bombing
beyond from Laos to china and Europe by train
If the railway is built and owned by Chinese companies, what Laotian debt are we talking about?
Do you think China would ultimately give Laos for free? Just look at Sri Lanka.
@@jasonlucas2328 Do your research. There is no debt trap on everthing. Dont get brain washed by CIA prapoganda. By the way, Sri Lanka's debt has nothing to do with China. China help the contry like this to build infrastructures, and recover the economy to pay the debt.
@@jasonlucas2328 look at Sri Lanka. And read the research done by Bloomberg and the Atlantic. It's an insidious attempt to villify China.
You think too much. Need to watch more CNN/BBC/SKY/FOX/NYT/ECONOMIST for proper education.
@@jasonlucas2328 What about Sri Lanka?
Laos best place in the world
ST report is just half baked. Most debts in developing countries are loans from commercial Western banks and the World Bank, ADB etc.
She meant debts from these ang moh Ah Long are ok. Like they don't ask for money back with interest.
Hi ສະບາຍດີ
I cost a fair bit of the budget goes to the vvips of the two countries
In Southeast Asia there are two countries that have bullet trains (Indonesia and Laos.) The difference is that bullet trains in Indonesia are not yet connected to China and they connect cities in Indonesia with the aim of growing new industrial areas, especially growth in the electric car battery industry ( Indonesia Battery Corp / IBC, LG Energy Soultions and CATL have started producing electric batteries for all EV brands in the world and controls more than 70% of the world's electric car batteries ).
So many electric car brands have been produced in Indonesia (Hyundai Ioniq 5, Wuling Air EV, Toyota Innova Zenix Hybrid, BZ4X and others) and this not only assembling like in other countries because in Indonesia they also produce electric car batteries.
Very different from the bullet trains in Laos, they are directly connected to cities in China.Things that are very unbalanced and profitable for China, with the completion of this bullet train it will be easier for China to expand economically to Laos and Laos only as a consumer for Chinese goods / products.
1:15 Chinese railway staff also had to learn Laotian. Let's not get it twisted. Cut the neoimperialistic divisive nonsense.
我只知道中国春节期间，很多中国人通过口岸来看老挝这个邻居
BYD
What…the…F…?
A poor country like that has a High speed rail?
Silly as a USA agency to make an issue out of the loan. How much did your news media got from uncle sam?
Oh why can't the laotians remain poor without proper infrastructure so that these singaporean journalists could always look down to them forever?
All good thing come with a price, calculative n manageble price, not Free lunch, why harping on China
Good work Hui Yee. I hope the Lao is smart enough not to get too indebted for such good to have but not really critical infrastructure.
Not critical infrastructure? The track is part of China's One Belt One Road link from Singapore to Malaysia to Thailand to Laos to China that links to Beijing to Europe. People and goods can move faster and cheaper than sea route. Critical infrastructure now?
Not critical? It turns Laos from a landlocked country to a landlinked country.
@@wyodragon4325 He has democracy brain.
Bhutan is landlocked too.
Not worth commenting on such bogus remarks
Laos- Province of China
here comes a salty Amerikkkan
Is it enough passengers taking the train to pay off the debt in 30 years for Lao ?
Yes it will pay off about 20 years
The most of profit come from freight
Possible cos of investment and other freight movement.but 30 years is a long time.easily could be done in 10years
Any country that builds infrastructure for a poor country must be able to recover costs as they are not Santa Claus. Which Western country has done that? At the very least China dare to stick it's head out and do something successfully rather than dropping bombs and destroy infrastructure and local people..
Cannot just count the direct revenue, it should include profits from freight trading and other related trades like accommodation, f&b and related merchandise.
Sign of debt trap and bankruptcy.
I do not think that the construction of this railway line is a sign of debt trap and bankruptcy for Laos, but the personal mines and the unexploded bombs left behind by the criminal, barbaric USA are definitely death traps for the Laotians.
@@wyodragon4325 "Exactly".
It's a debt trap, Laos will pay China back with natural resources, sovereignty, etc.
Without infrastructure, Roads, Rail, Ports, Schools, Hospitals Reservoirs and Waste Water Treat plants poor countries remain in a “POVERTY TRAP OF STAGNATION”. Infrastructure is the essential platform for countries to grow and modernize.
Staff have to learn chinese in their own country??
Trains were made in China with instructions in Chinese only. Just like the US astronauts needing to learn Russian to operate the Russian modules.
Yes, and staffs on the Chinese section of the railway has to learn Lao language. This railway is an international route running from Vientiane in Laos to Kunming in China.
Lol, such a disingenuous question
Ask yourself why you are speaking English and why do you think it's your own language
@@sreenathsurendran853 Its an international language.
This is a big mistake bringing mainland Chinese into Laos like this.
Maybe you prefer to see Laos under bombs and Agent orange dropped by USA.
You may want to remain in lockdown mode but LAOS sees it as a chance to get out of poverty and stagnation.
LAOS had been poor for decades ...with hundreds of thousands of landmines placed by the wonderful USA allies during the Vietnam war.
You are asking them to just give up and be poor and desperate forever ???
It's not you so its ok ?
Place yourself in their shoes before.trying to push the over used USA debt trap propaganda against China.
FYI ....no other country is able to build that track within that cost and within that speed ie timeline.
So don't moan for LAOs about their debt. They have to start somewhere to get out of their rut.
Since opening of the Lao-China line, Laos have seen many benefits.
A World Bank report shows that the railway could potentially increase aggregate income in Laos by up to 21 percent over the long term.
The China-Laos Railway helps to build a new logistics passage between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, cutting the travel time for freight trains linking Kunming and Vientiane to only 30 hours when running at the fastest speed.
I know. Who in their right minds would need a railway to go to places. They should always ride donkeys.
What a big white elephant
You're wrong. It's actually overexceeding expectation. There are more demands for seat on the trains than they're available.
Some people seem to be brainwashed and in complete denial when talking about things not made by the western world.
Vanity project.
Does not give any value to the hosts country even though it is paying fors it.
BRI models
Paid by host countrys
Made by ccp
Run by ccp
Guaranteed Profit to ccp
Sour dude
volunteer comfort woman from TW? or HK???
Useless reporting
CCP’s red China never even try to respect other country’s culture and language, why on earth using mandarin in Laos where most ppl don’t even understand . It’s a new type colonisation .
laos be in 100 years of China debts. Oh well.
This is good for china but not for laos. The stats presented in the last minite say it all
Good, toil on the dirt road all you’d like while others sprint forward.
@@theolich4384 the road shouLd lead somewhere.. otherwise its a waste of precious resources. Heard of ghost cities in china?
@Watcher well the xinnie the poohs stooges can say whatever makes them happy
The Three Gorges Dam collapses once a year, and China collapses once a year😂
@@user-sk9nx2rg6u wumaos still get paid 50c a post