“泰”厉害了！东南亚最大火车站就要来了

如果你住在曼谷，當你在诗叻高速上驾驶时，你一定会注意到气派的挽赐中央站。在曼谷，堵车是一件司空见惯的事情，在堵车的漫长等待中，你不妨静下心来仔细研究一下这个未来的交通枢纽。

挽赐中央站的外观与纽约大车站有几分相似。站在远处就能发现，车站的设计以华南蓬车站的设计风格为灵感，融合现代元素，特色十分鲜明。未来，这里将成为曼谷的新地标。挽赐中央站作为泰国下一个大型基础设施项目，不仅有助于缓解曼谷长期以来存在的交通拥堵问题，也将支持泰国将自身打造成为东南亚的交通枢纽，意义深远。同时，挽赐中央站致力于加强泰国的铁路系统及其与区域运输网络的联接，从而促进经济增长。

如果要用一个词来说明设立这个大型项目背后的意义，那就是“流动性”。泰国雄心勃勃，希望利用铁路网更有效、更经济地运输旅客和货物，特别是降低物流成本。2018年，泰国的物流成本约占GDP的13.6%。自1893年泰国铁路系统启动以来，这可能是第一个大规模升级铁路系统的大胆举措。

虽然挽赐中央站只是整个泰国铁路网的一部分，但却是关键的一部分，它将取代曼谷贵妇购物中心站或华南蓬车站，成为首都的铁路枢纽。挽赐中央站将承载更大的容量，并完美匹配泰国将自身打造成为东南亚交通枢纽的雄心。除了城际列车，挽赐中央站建成后，将实现廊曼机场、素万那普机场和乌塔堡机场3大国际机场间的互联互通，从廊曼机场到乌塔堡机场全程220公里仅需1个多小时就能到达。如果你住在曼谷，只要你想，随时都可以到罗勇海滩欣赏美景、放松身心。

目前，车站外部建设已全部完工，待内部控制系统的设置以及车厢购置全部完成后，2021年即可向民众开放运行。挽赐中央站占地1280英亩，是百年老站华南蓬车站的10倍，是东南亚规模最大的火车站。车站设有4个楼层，12个月台，24条轨道，可同时容纳26～40列列车，日客流量高达60万人次，增加的车次自然也为旅客节省了大量的时间。

挽赐中央站采用环保设计，绿化率高达30%。泰国国家铁路局前代理局长沃拉武表示，挽赐中央站提供的是电力列车服务，所以不会对环境造成负面影响。

最初，在《2015～2022年交通基础设施战略规划》中，挽赐中央站只是作为泰国铁路系统（红线）的延伸。后来，政府扩大了计划，改造了主要终点站，以满足各类铁路服务需求。与日本的东京站和中国台湾的台北总站的功能相似，建成后的挽赐中央站将作为新的交通枢纽中心，为未来的科技创新提供先进的基础设施支撑。

通往乌塔堡的高铁一旦建成，曼谷和东部经济走廊（EEC）之间的交通将变得十分便利。东部经济走廊是“泰国4.0战略”下的旗舰项目，旨在吸引主要投资者投资高科技产业，以创造更大的价值。同时，这个高铁项目还将利于泰国旅游业发展，早日实现城市化和城市去中心化，扩大城市之外的经济机会。

届时，居住在曼谷周边地区的百姓将可以直接搭乘曼谷近郊的红线铁路系统，避开交通堵塞。曼谷近郊铁路有两条路线：一条是从大城府到叻丕府的南北向的暗红线，全长114.3公里;另一条则是连接那坤巴统府和北柳府的东西向的浅红线，全长127.5公里。

从挽赐中央站发出的首趟高铁就要开通了，人们对此满怀期待。未来几十年，这个车站将为曼谷不断延伸的高铁项目提供“大后方”。

即将实现的首个高铁项目便是曼谷至廊开府的线路，这是连接泰国、老挝和中国的中泰合作项目。从曼谷到呵叻府的一期工程正在建设中，全长250.77公里，连接呵叻府和廊开府的线路全长356.1公里。一旦高铁完工，从曼谷到廊开府将由通常的11小时火车车程或8小时汽车车程缩短至3小时。

在这样的布局下，挽赐中央站和泰国铁路网将加强东盟区域内的互联互通，在可预见的未来，它将与中国的“一带一路”倡议或其他潜在的双边或区域物流项目联系起来，发挥更大的作用。

当然，挽赐中央站的规划不仅限于火车和高铁。受日本城市铁路网的启发，泰国想以挽赐中央站作为一个“催化剂”，推动开发车站周边新的中央商务区，可谓一举数得。泰国国家铁路局计划在周边地区采用运输导向型发展（TOD）模式，吸引更多的商业综合体和住宅单元投资。

泰国政府增强基础设施建设无疑能带动当地的就业和经济发展，与此同时，利用更高效的通勤网络，曼谷交通现状将有望得到缓解。值得注意的是，由于交通的改善，城市居民的数量将会逐渐减少，因为他们现在更愿意分散到近郊地区居住。当前，新冠肺炎疫情仍在全球蔓延，泰国也面临着抗疫和发展的艰巨任务，这个大型项目就像是“及时雨”，给泰国和东南亚地区创造了大量的就业和创业机会，为经济复苏注入了更多动力。

·来源：泰国外交部

·编译：莫婷婷

The King and the Cloud — the Story Behind the Royal Rainmaking Project

By Suvat Chirapant

Droughts have always prevailed in the plateau of Isan， the Thai nickname for the northeastern region of Thailand， where almost half of its population are farmers. Dependent on rainfall to sustain their crops， farmers would traditionally gather at the beginning of the wet season to shoot homemade Bang Fai rockets to the sky to ask the weather god to release the monsoon upon the earth. According to folklore， the higher and louder the rockets blast into the sky， the better. The deity will likely be more pleased with the offering and allow plentiful rainfall for the seasons harvest.

On November 14， 1955， His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great travelled through the dried-up Isan region during a royal visit. The then 28-year-old monarch noted the effects of water deficiency in the area， which caused low crop yields and subsequently， the people to suffer from chronic poverty and malautrition. When the young King looked up to the sky in hope of finding a solution， he noticed that the weather was cloudy， yet it did not result into precipitation. As every cloud has a silver lining， literally， King Bhumibol found one while watching the clouds — an idea of how to draw droplets from the clouds onto the farmlands.

“The idea of artificial rain came to me since 1955 when I visited Isan during the month of November. It was cloudy， yet the drought still persisted. So I had two ideas in mind. First was to build check dams， and second was how to bring the water from the clouds. Then I recalled that I had heard about rain-making before. Later， I mentioned it to Mom Rajawongse Debariddhi （an expert in agricultural engineering） that I have read from the books that it is possible to make artificial rain.” — （His Majesty King Bhumibol， interview with public officers from the Office of the Royal Development Project Board， March 17， 1986）

Having shown keen interest in science from a young age， the King was equipped with knowledge on technological research from his enrolment at the Faculty of Science at the University of Lausanne. After 14 years of research on meteorology and weather modification， the first experiment in making artificial rain was attempted on July 1， 1969. It was quite a remarkable success. After the fleet of aircraft had distributed dry-ice flakes over the top of the clouds， it started to rain within 15 minutes. This operation marked the dawn of what is now acknowledged by Thais as “The Royal Rainmaking Project”.

Since then， the project has gone through a series of transformations to perfect the artificial rainmaking process. His Majesty King Bhumibol recognized that a sufficient amount of moisture is crucial for rainmaking to be successful. Therefore， a new chemical formula was invented to maximize the humidity level for different types of clouds. The current technique of rainmaking now involves three processes. First， “agitating”， or to activate cloud formation by using salt and other chemical substances to accumulate humidity. Second， “fattening”， or to stimulate the accumulation of droplets in the cloud by scattering calcium chloride， and lastly “attacking”， to initiate rainfall from the heavy clouds by adding a mixture of salt and urea.

The project later manifested into the establishment of the Bureau of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation in 1992 under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. The rainmaking technique， however， is exclusive to Thailand. In 2001， King Bhumibol received recognition for the Royal Rainmaking Project from the EUREKA organization “for an invention that is beneficial to the world.” In 2003， King Bhumibol was granted a patent for weather modification from the European Patent Office. Ever since the invention caught the attention of the international community， many countries have sought cooperation with Thailand to apply this know-how in addressing their own drought problems. Jordan， for instance， was granted the use of the rainmaking technique in 2009， through an MOU for training and technology transfer. Other countries who have sought cooperation include Mongolia， Sri Lanka， Indonesia， Australia， and the Philippines. In Thailand， November  14 is now celebrated as “Father of Royal Rainmaking Day” to commemorate the day that inspired this invaluable initiative that has benefited many countries around the world.

Even 50 years since the birth of the Royal Rainmaking Project， the operation still remains very much active today. There is no need to rely on weather gods， when citizens can submit a request for rain where needed， and rain shall be granted. The project enables Thai farmers to harvest without disruption， and to fill hydroelectric dams to help fulfill the increasing demand for electricity.

In 2013， the Bureau of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation was upgraded to become the Department of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation due to the significance of its mission and expanded responsibilities. In 2019， the Department conducted 1，673 rainmaking operations across the country. Almost 89% of the flights were successful， producing rainfall over 63 million hectares of forest， agricultural area， and reservoirs. The downpour of rain has increased the amount of water reserves by 2，595 million cubic metres. Still， the demand of artificial rain is expected to rise due to air pollution problems and the effects of global warming， and the Department is now exploring the use of rockets to help scatter the rainmaking substance over the cloud.

Today， under the guidance of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorm， the legacy of the Royal Rainmaking Project continues to live on. Following in his fathers footsteps， King Vajiralongkorn has also initiated various irrigation projects to address drought， such as the construction of six reservoirs in the western province of Ratchaburi， and the development of canal systems， check dams， and levees to assist farmers in the deep south of Thailand. This is one of the many testimonies of the vision， continued dedication， perseverance， and ingenuity of the monarchs in the Chakri Dyaasty watching over the Thai people and the country.

· Source： Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand