Construction on a rail line between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand looks set to start this year, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prajin Juntong said.

If negotiations go on smoothly, construction will start at the end of this year or the beginning of the next, Prajin Juntong said on the sidelines of the 13th China-ASEAN Expo in China's southern city of Nanning.