Thailand expects its 609-km (378 miles) portion of a high-speed railway that will connect it with China through Laos to begin operations in 2030, its government said on Wednesday, nearly a decade later than originally planned.

The project is part of Thailand's broader strategy to bolster links with China, its largest trading partner, as it strives to keep pace with regional peers.

By 2030, the US$13 billion Thai network is expected to connect to the Laos-China high-speed railway via a bridge over the Mekong River.

Thailand's car production in 2024 dropped about 20% from the previous year to record the lowest output in four years, owing to weaker domestic sales and exports, although production is expected to rise 2% this year,

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Car production in Thailand dropped 17.37% in December from a year earlier to 104,878 units due to lower domestic sales and exports, Federation of Thai Industries said on Tuesday. That followed November's 28.23% year-on-year fall, and was the 17th straight month that production had contracted.