No longer. Isarn’s political eminence grise Newin Chidchob announced last week that he plans to build a state-of-the-art race track in his home province, Buriram, at a cost of at least B2 billion. The track will be 4 kilometres per lap, with 16 bends. The complex will also include a drag-racing strip with its own spectator stand.
Forty per cent of the funding for the project will come from overseas investors, with the remainder coming “from our family and partners in Thailand,” Mr Newin said.
He has already engaged the world’s No 1 designer of race circuits, Hermann Tilke, to design the Buriram track and the facilities. Tilke designed Sepang in Malaysia, Singapore’s Marina Bay circuit, the Bahrain, Shanghai and South Korean tracks, and the spectacular Yas Marina circuit in the UAE.
But Mr Newin made it clear that he will not aim to host F1 races at the track. He noted that there are 40 Formula 1 tracks around the world, but only 19 are used for F1 races.
Although he is a big F1 fan, he said, “I am not stupid enough to organise [F1 races]. It is not worth the investment. I will not invest in something that is not worth it.”
For a country with as much poverty as Thailand, a world-class race track and drag strip might seem to be a flight of frivolity, an act of hubris.
But then Mr Newin revealed the full scope of his idea, and it all began to make a great deal more sense: with Thailand already labeled as the Detroit of Asia, the track will also be a centre for high-tech vehicle testing, around 350 kilometres from Laem Chabang, and less than 200 from Prachin Buri, where Honda is building a new plant.
Project director Tanasiri Chanvitayarom said the track will be built on 800 rai close to Buriram United’s equally state-of-the-art Thunder Castle football stadium – also created by the will of Mr Newin.
“The circuit will be able to accommodate F3, GT1, GT2 and GT3 races and will [also] be able to host Moto GP or Superbike World Championship races,” Mr Tanasiri said.
“The circuit will also be able to accommodate the automobile industry in Thailand and elsewhere in Asean for testing cars and motorbikes, as well as other automobile-related products before they go into production.
“Currently, testing [by automobile companies manufacturing in Thailand] takes place overseas but we are confident that we will be able to attract these manufacturers.”
Mr Newin added, “If we have to invest in building a wind tunnel, test tracks and laboratories, we will do it so that we have all the equipment necessary for complete testing.
“In the meantime, our working group will continue studying whether the project is worth the investment. But from what we see so far, it’s worthwhile.
“We are confident of reaching break-even within five years of the official opening,” he said, adding that the project is expected to be completed in less than two years from now.
Mr Newin said he also expected the circuit to attract many more tourists to Buriram, a flat and mostly featureless province on the border with Cambodia, with an economy that relies heavily on growing rice and cassava.