BANGKOK: The Transport Ministry will conclude its series of overseas visits to invite foreign investors to join the government’s land bridge project a trip to China in May, minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said on Thursday (April 11).
The mega project involves constructing deep-sea ports in Chumphon and Ranong provinces and transforming transport routes between Chumphon and Ranong to link the ports. The estimated cost is 1 trillion baht.
The land bridge will establish a link between the Pacific and Indian oceans, easing shipping congestion in the Malacca Straits, currently the main regional trade route for cargo.
Suriya said the ministry’s delegates have travelled to several countries in the past several months to convince foreign investors of the benefits of the project to the global logistics industry.
The trip to China in May will see the delegates joining a meeting of Thai-Chinese business leaders to discuss investment opportunities, he said.
“We have seen promising responses from investors who are interested in the project. The May trip will be the last in the series and we hope to attract more Chinese investors to join,” said Suriya, adding that after the trip concludes, the ministry will start preparing investment invitation documents.
The ministry aims to propose the draft of the project to the Southern Economic Corridor Office in the fourth quarter of this year and begin dispatching investment invitations in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Project bids are expected to start in the second quarter of 2026, with land expropriation and construction beginning in the fourth quarter of that year. The land bridge is expected to be complete and ready for use by 2030.
The estimated 1 trillion baht budget for the project is divided into:
> 300 billion baht for the development of the port on the Ranong side
> 330 billion baht for the development of the port on the Chumphon side
> 140 billion baht for establishing a STRO (Single Rail Transfer Operator) cargo transfer centre within the ports
> 220 billion baht for developing transport infrastructure connecting the two ports. - The Nation/ANN
