Thailand Invests $3 billion in Border Provinces to Develop Transport Hub

Thailand is spending 100 billion baht ($3 billion) in infrastructure to strengthen its position as a transport and trade hub along the economic corridors of the Greater Mekong Subregion.

News reports said the projects are concentrated in five border provinces: Chiang Rai, Tak, Sa Kaeo, Nong Khai, and Nakhon Phanom. Thailand’s Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said these provinces will have a key role in connecting Thailand with the other countries in the subregion.

In Chiang Khong in Chiang Rai, Thailand is developing a double-track railway from Denchai in Phrae province and a goods transport center. Chiang Khong is part of the western subcorridor of the North–South Economic Corridor, which links Thailand with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and Kunming in the southern part of the People’s Republic of China.

In Tak province, Thailand has built a bridge over the Moei river, linking the Mae Sot district with the town of Myawaddy in Myanmar. The bridge, which opened in March, is expected to boost trade, tourism, and investments in the East–West Economic Corridor. A one-stop border checkpoint will facilitate the transport of people and goods, and reduce the time spent at the border.

In Sa Kaeo, Thailand is also building a bridge in the Aranyaprathet district across the Bhrom Hote Canal to the border town of Poipet in Cambodia.

In Nong Khai, the government is constructing a rail bridge to Vientiane, the capital of the Lao PDR. The project is part of a planned Southeast Asian railway that will link Kunming, the capital of the Chinese province of Yunnan, with Singapore. It is also building a goods transport center in the area.

At Nakhon Phanom, which borders the Lao PDR, Thailand is planning to build another double-track railway, which will link the province with Ban Phai and Mukdahan. The transport minister said this will make it easier to travel from the northeastern border to Laem Chabang Port in Chon Buri, which is part of Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor development.

Read the full story from Bangkok Post.