Land Bridge projects to get started in 2025, finished in 2030: PM

By Thai Newsroom Reporters

PRIME MINISTER SRETTHA Thavisin today (Dec.30) confirmed that the planned implementation of Land Bridge projects in the upper southern region of Thailand will get started in 2025 and finished in 2030.

The prime minister said the government is currently putting forward various megaprojects to link two oceans, the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, spare four days of travel between the two seas for cargo vessels and save an average 15% of maritime transport costs, compared to today’s sailing through the Malacca Strait in Singapore.

Maritime mercantile, logistic and industrial sectors on either side of the Land Bridge could potentially encourage foreign investment, increase the country’s GDP, create jobs and strengthen the southern economy in the long run, Srettha said.

International biddings on Land Bridge projects are scheduled for 2025 to be followed by construction work in the same year with completion being scheduled in the following five years, according to the prime minister.

The megaprojects are designed to feature deep-sea ports to facilitate seagoing mercantile vessels on both sides of the Land Bridge with one on the shores of the Gulf of Thailand as part of the Pacific Ocean in Chumphon and the other on the coast of the Andaman Sea as part of the Indian Ocean in Ranong. One deep-sea port is calculated to accommodate as many as 20 million cargo containers in a year.

A motorway and a dual-tracked railway will be built to link the Land Bridge projects on land with the western and lower southern regions of the country, he said.

However, government agencies are yet to conduct environmental impact assessment and environmental health impact assessment studies and sound out relevant views of local villagers on these megaprojects, he said.

CAPTIONS:

Top: Representative image of the Land Bridge projects. Photo: Thai Rath

Insert: Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin discussing the Land Bridge projects recently. Photo: Thai Rath

Front Page: Planned route of the Land Bridge. Photo: Matichon

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