BANGKOK, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has exercised his absolute power to streamline the construction of the Thai-Chinese high-speed rail project, according to the Thailand's Royal Gazette.
The premier's Article 44 absolute power provides exemption for Chinese engineers who will be employed in the Thai-Chinese rail project to the extent that they need not take an exam to obtain engineering licenses as normally required by the Thai law, the Royal Gazette announced in late Thursday.
Instead, the premier's Article 44 absolute power calls for the Ministry of Transport to coordinate with the Council of Engineers and Architects Council of Thailand in order to provide a training and orientation course for the Chinese engineers to acquire knowledge pertaining to the 252-kilometer route between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima province within a 120-day time.
That is the start-up stretch of the Thai-Chinese rail project designed to link Yunnan province in southern China with northeastern Thailand via northern Laos under the framework of Thailand's infrastructural development strategy during 2015 and 2022.
The premier's absolute power is applied in immediate effect to solve legal snags and allow for the Chinese engineers to work on design and construction of the rail track as well as procurement of the Chinese high-speed train system.
The order is effective since Thursday.
