The government of Thailand is planning to spend $21 billion to revamp Bangkok’s rail transit system, as part of a plan to take on air pollution in the country.
Bloomberg reports that the project would be the biggest development project in the country and enable passengers to travel to China and Singapore by train, connecting most major Thai cities to Bangkok.
As part of the project, the government will also build a $1.3 billion hub of the transit system, which will become the largest train station in Southeast Asia when it opens in 2021.
“It will be good for the country’s economy and environment over the long term,” said Somprawin Manprasert, chief economist at Bank of Ayudhya. “The pollution problem has shown that we have reached the point where our actions start to hurt us.”
According to data from the Global Infrastructure Hub, Thailand has invested a total of $77.7 billion in infrastructure over the past five years. The country per
