Abstract
Laurids S. Lauridsen applies a Chinese proverb “two tigers cannot occupy the same mountain” to describe the situation related to the stronger participation of China in the evolving regional order. The author sees an emerging regional situation in which the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative has taken regional competition and infrastructure diplomacy to an elevated level. By examining an empirical case of high-speed railway projects in Thailand, this chapter seeks to analyse regional rivalry between Japan and China, and the evolving alternative regional order in terms of tangible forms of infrastructure development.
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Notes
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This strange procedure was due public concern about high-speed (Interview C). The following interviews were made during fieldwork in late February 2016: A: Dr. Pichet Kunadhamraks, Office of Transport Planning (OTP), Ministry of Transport (MoT); B: Danucha Pichayanan, Senior Advisor for Policy and Plan, Infrastructure project office, the National Economic and Social Planning Board (NESDB). C: Former MoT public official; D: Consultant George Abonyi; E: Professor Chulacheeb Chinwanno, Department of Political Science, Thammasat University.
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On the other hand, by having Nakhon Ratchasima as the terminus, the Thai side still have some leverage in relation to China for whom the HSR line makes little sense OBOR-wise if the Nakhon Ratchasima – Nong Khai HSR route (yellow line 4 in Fig. 9.1) is not constructed.
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Lauridsen, L.S. (2019). Changing Regional Order and Railway Diplomacy in Southeast Asia with a Case Study of Thailand. In: Xing, L. (eds) Mapping China’s ‘One Belt One Road’ Initiative. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92201-0_9
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