China never asks development rights to lands alongside Sino-Thai railway: Chinese embassy in Thailand

BANGKOK - The Chinese embassy in Thailand said on Monday that China has neither come up with nor talked about the development rights to the lands alongside the planned Thailand-China Railway in previous meetings.

Some Thai media reported that China claims development rights to the lands alongside Thailand-China Railway, the spokesperson of Chinese Embassy said it is a misunderstanding needs to be clarified.

"The Joint Committee on Railway Cooperation between the Thailand and China has been held for 11 rounds of meetings so far, that China has neither came up with nor talked about the development rights to the lands alongside the railway," said the spokesperson.

"The cooperation model has changed right now and the investment of the project will be made by Thai side alone. In this regard, there is even no possibility for Chinese side to come up with this initiative."

Some media from the Kingdom and other countries reported that China request for development rights along the route, while some online intellectuals even opposed the railway project for the reason that they thought China had such a request.