Land use change and local adaptation along the Sino-Thai railway tracks: Nong Khai Railway Station case study

Abstract

The “Belt and Road” strategy initiated by the Republic of China has resulted in the current Sino-Thai railway construction project. The impact of this route has led to tremendous changes of land-use in Nong Khai province. The study has found that the pattern of land-use change is related to the influence of infrastructure development projects such as road, bridge, railway tracks and special economic zone policy. The land price has been rising for many years. The patterns of land-use change include 1) the expanding of residential area over agricultural area 2) the extent of commercial area overlap on residential area, and 3) the expanding of transportation projects into residential area. In addition, the economic and social capitals have played important roles in determining resettlement capacity for local people. Their concerning points were mainly about the insufficiency of project details, uncertainty of relocation date, equity of access to information, and reasonable compensation.