Feature: Thai SMEs eagerly explore greater opportunities brought by China-Laos Railway

NONG KHAI, Thailand, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Tanapat Yuttagasemson was still impressed as he recalled the first time he traveled on the China-Laos Railway.

"It was very impressive, very comfortable and clean. But buying a ticket was difficult because so many people wanted to buy them," said the Thai entrepreneur who runs small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the IT business.

Tanapat's businesses are based in Thailand's northeast province of Nong Khai, which lies some 20 km away from the Lao capital of Vientiane across the Mekong river.

The China-Laos Railway, inaugurated in December 2021, has become a major attraction for Thai tourists for use during their holidays. However, unlike many of his Thai compatriots who would choose the Lao historic site of Luang Prabang for leisure, Tanapat took the train to Boten, where the railway crossed into China's Yunnan province, to explore business opportunities.

The 43-year-old was acutely aware of more significant opportunities presented by the launching of the cross-border passenger service on the China-Laos Railway on Thursday.

The railway has provided a shortcut to the Chinese market for entrepreneurs like Tanapat in Nong Khai and from other regions in northeast Thailand, which are far from Thailand's economic heartlands around the capital city of Bangkok and in the east.

Locals would no longer need to travel to Bangkok to board a plane for China, shortening the distance between the business communities and the Chinese markets, said Tanapat, who is eyeing some areas of Yunnan province like Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, which shares similar cultures with Thailand, as good export markets for Thai products from Nong Khai.

"I hope to expand markets for Thai products because the Chinese market is very big. We hope this railway would be an opportunity for Thai entrepreneurs so that we could export our products to the southwestern part of China or even to Beijing," he told Xinhua on Thursday.

As the cross-border passenger service of China-Laos Railway could bring in more Chinese tourists, Tanapat hopes that it would also open up opportunities for them to work with Chinese businesses.

"We hope entrepreneurs from China will come here. More entrepreneurs mean more opportunities," he said.

Many young entrepreneurs in Nong Khai are equally keen to explore new opportunities. Jakkarin Tinnakronwong, head of the local young entrepreneurs' association who works in the tourism industry, said he and his fellows are eager to know more about the Chinese market and to exchange ideas with their Chinese counterparts.

While preparing for the potential influx of Chinese tourists, Jakkarin said his association plans to explore attractions in Yunnan and work on tourism packages for Thai tourists who want to travel to China through the China-Laos Railway.

Many in Nong Khai see the China-Laos Railway a golden opportunity for development. "I really think the opportunity has arrived. We will try to take it," Tanapat said.