Greenlight for studies for "Thai Bridge" to connect Petchaburi and Chonburi

[webfact]

Greenlight for studies for "Thai Bridge" to connect Petchaburi and Chonburi

 

Picture: Manager Online

 

A high level meeting chaired by PM Prayut Chan-ocha yesterday gave approval to plans to develop Laem Chabang port on the Eastern Seaboard creating a hub of trade and investment. 

 

Central to the plan - ambitiously planned for a 2027 finish - is to develop the seaports in Ranong on the Andaman Sea and Chumphon on the gulf side.

 

And build a road way from Ranong through to Petchaburi then ACROSS the Gulf of Thailand to Chonburi.

 

This would be a 4 lane bridge and hard shoulder traversing the Gulf at a distance of 80-100 kilometers.

 

Cutting 2- 3 hours off road journey times the project is planned for a 2032 finish.

 

Meanwhile Ranong and Chumphon will be connected by a "Land Bridge" that will comprise the motorway and a rail network connecting the two southern cities. The railway would continue north

 

Thus ships will no longer have to go through the straits of Malacca around Singapore to the Gulf of Thailand. 

 

Two or three days will be saved on trips for containers thus giving Thailand the edge.

 

The "F" port at Laem Chabang will be thoroughly developed to cope with the anticipated new traffic.

 

The rail networks will be developed between Laem Chabang and the south connecting the EEC (Eastern Economic Corridor) plans with the SES (Southern Economic Sector). 

 

Thaivisa notes that for decades Thai authorities discussed the possibility of the "Kra Isthmus" project that would create a canal across Thailand to aid international trade. 

 

This new plan seems to be a version of that that would be more economically viable. 

 

Picture: Manager Online

 

But a bridge across the Gulf is another matter entirely. 

 

It should be noted that the 1.18 trillion baht project is still at the feasibility stage. 

 

But should it become a reality having a bridge connecting Chonburi and Pattaya to Hua Hin and the south would be a major development for not just international trade but tourism also. 

 

The plans would include investment from China, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

 

Source: Manager Online

 

 

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[realfunster]

I was wondering about this in the "1.1 trillion of projects under review" thread also started today.

 

So this confirms it, they are considering an 80+km bridge across the Gulf.

 

Ambitious plans indeed, as the current longest sea bridge is 55km and cost USD20bn/THB625bn.

 

[mickymouse1]

What is stopping them? Get on with it .

[mickymouse1]

Give it to the Chinese and t will be ready in 2023

[dcsw53]

Reality check, we are talking about Thailand, the country that has daily serious road crashes where trucks have frequent brake failure.
What provision are they planning for ones that jack knife, roll over and block the whole width of the road? It has happened several times on highway 7 since they made it an expressway and the results are utter chaos. No emergency access so rescue vehicles have to drive on the wrong carriageway to clear the carnage. It is bad enough when this is 20km, but 50km ?
The queues when it happens will set new distance records.

[whiteman]

If Thais have any thing to do with building it It will finish up like the airport with leaking roofs and cracks in the runways. You will take you life in your hands when you drive along it after it is finished in 2055 ;0

[spidermike007]

30 minutes ago, realfunster said:

I was wondering about this in the "1.1 trillion of projects under review" thread also started today.

 

So this confirms it, they are considering an 80+km bridge across the Gulf.

 

Ambitious plans indeed, as the current longest sea bridge is 55km and cost USD20bn/THB625bn.

 

And with the infinity creativity of the local engineers, they will figure out a way to create a bridge of almost twice the distance of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, and spend less money per km. Would be quite a thing to see. No doubt, more transportation options are desperately needed. Without the option of rail cargo, the highways here are endlessly, and needlessly choked with trucks, both big and small. The highways here are a nightmare. 

 

Best to just admit the submarines are vanity projects, with no real function, and devote that money to the national infrastructure. And retire the admiral who approved that dumb project. 

[CLW]

This tunnel idea is absolutely ridiculous and must be stopped by the opposition and people's groups immediately. Such a waste of taxpayers money for a feasibility study. 

The longest underwater tunnel is the Japanese seikan tunnel connecting Hokkaido and mainland Japan. It is a railway tunnel (which eliminates mainly accidents), 50km long and it took 17 years to built it. 

Now go figure if this is possible in Thailand and with their proposed timeline?

Such a pipedream. 

Better upgrade or built a highway along the coast connecting the ports. Nowadays it's a pain in the ass driving from Pattaya to Hua Hin on motorway because you have to cross Bangkok downtown.

[2long]

You HAVE to be joking! How can a container ship's cargo safely be offloaded in Ranong and transported by road or rail across the national parks and a 60-mile long bridge? Never in a million years! ????????????????????????

[shady86]

Another 200mil B gone for feasibility study. 

[tifino]

hey they could convert the new subs into cargo carrying monorail tugs 

[d2b2]

Utter tosh

[Tchooptip]

It would "also" be the brown envelopes of the century! ????

[Misterwhisper]

Just make sure the pillars on which that bridge is going to rest are spaced far enough apart... otherwise your new submarines may not fit through.

 

I thought I should alert you to that BEFORE you start building.

[Emdog]

When I thing things are absolute looney toons in my home country, I look at gov decisions in Thailand, breathe a sigh of relief.... "Well, I guess things could be worse back home..."

[AhFarangJa]

4 hours ago, mickymouse1 said:

What is stopping them? Get on with it .

They have to first formulate a listing for the distribution of the brown envelopes before actually distributing them. Then cancelling the project as non feasible.

[phantomfiddler]

An ambitious project indeed, for a country that cannot even sort out a storm drainage system ????

[DrTuner]

Why bother, distribute the budget to the trough. That's what this is all about and of course selling the country to CCP through debt traps.

[tifino]

getting hungry reading this subject...

 - hunger for a bowl of Fruit Loops

[Flying Saucage]

9 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

Why bother, distribute the budget to the trough. That's what this is all about and of course selling the country to CCP through debt traps.

Absolutey agree.

 

By the way, what is the status with this other big bridge project, the "Chan-o-cha bridge" to Koh Samui?

 

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/thai-mp-wants-to-build-bridge-to-samui-and-name-it-after-pm/

 

Now as the Thai economic prospects are so flourish and as the first 300 tourists will possibly arrive soon, it's definitely time for Prayut to ask his Chinese friends for some more loans. 

[Xonax]

Just try to imagine the humongous kickbacks!

[jaiyen]

They haven't even got the skills to build a decent normal road that long !  They haven't got enough bamboo for the scaffolding !

[mr_lob]

Anyone smell 'China debt trap'?

[PGSan]

5 hours ago, CLW said:

driving from Pattaya to Hua Hin on motorway because you have to cross Bangkok downtown.

That is a bit out of date by now.   The really huge remaining problem with this drive is that there is no motorway (and no hope of much of one) on the Hua Hin side of Bangkok.

[Old Croc]

5 hours ago, 2long said:

You HAVE to be joking! How can a container ship's cargo safely be offloaded in Ranong and transported by road or rail across the national parks and a 60-mile long bridge? Never in a million years! ????????????????????????

All containers get safely offloaded from ships and on to trucks eventually. That's how they get to their final destination.

The highway across the peninsular from Ranong to Chumphon already exists and seemingly would require little additional upgrading for this traffic. The rail already exists through Chumphon and up to Bangkok so I can envisage cargo from the Indian ocean being dispersed this way. It would seem to be very cost efficient in comparison to building a canal.

What I don't get is how, why and how much, a bridge across the gulf would entail, just to save a few road hours. An expensive disaster in the making!  As ships from the East (China) could sail directly to Chumphon why the need to link Chonburi into the route? Is there that much cargo from the western hemisphere needing to go there?

 

Edit: I've now read another topic that talks of a road link through Viet and Cambodia to Chonburi. It describes a tunnel across the gulf instead of a bridge!!!

Edited October 6, 2020 by Old Croc

[Flying Saucage]

5 minutes ago, mr_lob said:

Anyone smell 'China debt trap'?

Sure mr_lob. It's written in BIG LETTERS ON THE WALL.

 

The problem is, that those who decide, who are paid for it by the Chinese and who receive the Philippe Patek watches, have the tanks, and have the courts on their side. 

 

Many Thais understand the game: 

 

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/2020/02/25/opposition-attacks-prayuts-ties-to-china-in-debate-day-2/

 

There are still people, also in this forum, who are not aware about what happens right now in Thailand. Amazing.

[Redline]

China wants this bad, so it will likely happen.  Massive under the table cash available.  Don’t worry, Thai people will foot a big chunk of the bill.

Many big spending projects now are at the direction of China.

[Deli]

They just can't be serious about this. Pinch me honey, I have a nightmare.

[Flying Saucage]

14 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

What I don't get is how, why and how much, a bridge across the gulf would entail, just to save a few road hours. An expensive disaster in the making!  

It seems quite clear to me that it is not about saving a few road hours. Rather than this, it is about making Thailand a Chinese vassal state by accepting huge loans, in exchange for a handful of luxury watches and brown envelopes.

[vandeventer]

               Oh well, there goes the submarine money?