Thailand RailroadsThailand Railroads

Map Creator: Junyi Zhao ’21, Computer Science

During WWII, Japan built Thai-Myanmar Railroad in favor of transporting necessary resources including rubber, steel and oil to fuel its war machine. This decade, Japan competed China for Bangkok-Chiang Mai HSR to nationally invest in Thailand and open the market in a larger scale to better sell its consumer goods. In near future, Japan wants unite with China, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore for the signature railway project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Trans-Asia railroad from Seoul all the way to Singapore through countries

This map shows Japanese construction of railroad in Thailand in a timespan of one hundred years, focusing on three railroad projects by Japan in Thailand. The essay and map try to show reader the change of Japanese strategy in SE Asia during and after WWII, by how a Japanese favorite mean of transportation-railroad-evolves as an oversea project.