China to build major railway in Thailand

BANGKOK: Chinese premier Li Keqiang is set on Friday to sign agriculture and transport agreements on a visit to Bangkok, as Thailand’s junta seeks diplomatic support after their coup was given short-shrift by US and European allies.

A dual-track railway through Thailand, part of a 1,400 kilometer (870 mile) vision of linking China’s southwestern hub city of Kunming with Asia’s second busiest port of Singapore, will be the centerpiece of Li’s visit, a Thai government spokesman told Agence France-Presse.