Abstract:
The objectives of this research are (1) to study the impacts of Chiang Rai - Chiang Khong rail project on Chiang Rai provinces, especially the social and economic impacts which are caused by the rail project, positively and negatively and (2) to analyze advantages and disadvantages of Chiang Rai - Chiang Khong rail project on Chiang Rai province. The scope of study covers 2 main areas including (1) the search for different impacts in 3 different train station areas and (2) the search for different impacts between local people who live within 5 kilometers of the area where train station will be constructed and local people who live farther than 5 kilometers from the area where train station will be constructed. The research has done by employing survey, observation and in-depth interview with local people in Chiang Rai province in order to focus on the districts which are planned to be the location of train station, namely Wiang Chai district, Chiang Khong district and Pa Daet district. These districts can be influenced by the rail project from the beginning such as the impact from the construction, including land expropriation problem, land price increasing, the impact during the construction which may cause traffic jam or block the water flow in agriculture area, and the impact after construction by which the railway may separate villages or communities and cause several other environmental problems. Urban expansion in Chiang Rai may not expand according to the railway or train station because the town has correspondingly been expanded with the highway. However, the railway is mainly to benefit on tourism and hospitality industry, trade and investment, logistic and supply chain, domestically and internationally. Chiang Rai demands the different way of development which is suitable for basic infrastructure after having the railway in the province.
