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Thailand
This Week in AsiaEconomics

Will Thailand’s bid to bypass Strait of Malacca ever be built – and will China play a part?

  • The idea of a Kra Canal linking the Indian and Pacific oceans dates back more than 300 years and, now, Bangkok is studying a ‘land bridge’ to replace it
  • But amid US-China tensions and Thailand’s economic woes, analysts aren’t sure it’s a sound or necessary plan

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A container ship carries cargo to a port in Thailand. Photo: Getty Images
Jitsiree Thongnoi
Every few years, or every few governments, the idea of digging a canal across Thailand’s Kra Isthmus – creating a maritime passageway between the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand – is brought up, thrown around, and set aside.

The idea of a Kra Canal, which dates back more than 300 years, is aimed at maximising the potential of Thailand’s central location in Indochina by cutting through the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula to allow the swifter movement of commerce – and, in the old days, troops.

Modern advocates of the project say it will shave about two days off the time it usually takes cargo ships to pass through the Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and currently the shortest sea route linking India and the Middle East with the Asia-Pacific region. The canal was put on the back burner after a Thai Senate committee advised against certain routes in 2004, but in recent weeks the plan to make Thailand a crucial international logistics outpost through the link has been raised once again – with a twist.

Instead of a canal, the country’s cabinet on Tuesday approved a 68 million baht (US$2.2 million) feasibility study to look into a rail and highway link that would potentially connect two deep water ports to be built on either side of the isthmus.

Transport Minister Saksiam Chidchob told Bloomberg last month the 100km land bridge would replace the canal project, which would cause too much destruction to the environment.

With Thailand struggling to recover from the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the ports and land bridge would ensure Thailand’s economic stability in the long run, and gradually shift its tourism- and export-reliant economy to a more technologically driven one.

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