Bangkok (VNA) – The Government of Thailand issurveying locations in Chumphon and Ranong in the South for engineering,environmental and economic potential of a land bridge connecting the Gulf ofThailand and the Andaman Sea, according to local media.
The location of the land bridge project – touted as amore convenient way to transport goods from the Middle East to the Pacificregion – will be decided by June, said Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchobafter chairing a meeting on March 15.
The Chumphon-Ranong land bridge project will serve as alink for the transport of oil from the Strait of Hormuz, more than 4,000kilometres away from the Andaman Sea, to a port in Ranong before it istransported by land to a port in Chumphon, where it will be shipped to othercountries in the region, including China, Japan and the Republic of Korea,Saksayam said.
The future transport route could become a new option forcargo shipments between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and it will boosteconomic development in areas in southern Thailand, he said.
This future transport and cargo exchange gateway will bringdown transport costs by bypassing heavy traffic in the Malacca Strait, thetransport minister said, it will attract operators to use it.
In 2016, about 19 million barrels of crude oil weretransported through the Malacca Strait daily, 16 million barrels of which weretransported to Pacific countries, particularly China, Japan and the Republic ofKorea, he said.
About 24.7 million cargo containers were shipped throughthe Malacca Strait per year, accounting for 4.3 percent of the world's overallcargo transport, Saksayam said, noting that is why Singapore's port serves asAsia's largest petroleum terminal that handles the second-highest number ofcargo containers in the world.
As such, southern Thailand has good potential to becomean intercontinental shipment and cargo exchange gateway, given its locationbeing close to Singapore, he said./.
The location of the land bridge project – touted as amore convenient way to transport goods from the Middle East to the Pacificregion – will be decided by June, said Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchobafter chairing a meeting on March 15.
The Chumphon-Ranong land bridge project will serve as alink for the transport of oil from the Strait of Hormuz, more than 4,000kilometres away from the Andaman Sea, to a port in Ranong before it istransported by land to a port in Chumphon, where it will be shipped to othercountries in the region, including China, Japan and the Republic of Korea,Saksayam said.
The future transport route could become a new option forcargo shipments between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and it will boosteconomic development in areas in southern Thailand, he said.
This future transport and cargo exchange gateway will bringdown transport costs by bypassing heavy traffic in the Malacca Strait, thetransport minister said, it will attract operators to use it.
In 2016, about 19 million barrels of crude oil weretransported through the Malacca Strait daily, 16 million barrels of which weretransported to Pacific countries, particularly China, Japan and the Republic ofKorea, he said.
About 24.7 million cargo containers were shipped throughthe Malacca Strait per year, accounting for 4.3 percent of the world's overallcargo transport, Saksayam said, noting that is why Singapore's port serves asAsia's largest petroleum terminal that handles the second-highest number ofcargo containers in the world.
As such, southern Thailand has good potential to becomean intercontinental shipment and cargo exchange gateway, given its locationbeing close to Singapore, he said./.
VNA
