Thailand and Myanmar
A planned Thai mega-project in Myanmar runs into difficulty

DAWEI: -- THE Burmese city of Dawei lies 350 kilometres (220 miles) west of the Thai capital, Bangkok. The two are separated by a stretch of mountainous jungle and have never been connected. But over the past five years, Thailand’s biggest construction company, ItalianThai, has cut a swathe through the jungle which, once paved, will cost roughly $1m per kilometre of road. The plan is that it will connect Bangkok with a $50 billion industrial hub and deep-sea port at Dawei on the Andaman Sea.


The project was set in motion by Thaksin Shinawatra, a former Thai prime minister, who was overthrown in a military coup in 2006. When he proposed it he was still in power and it was seen by many as a vanity project that would never get off the ground.

After the Burmese government started to open up two years ago, some concluded that Mr Thaksin was in fact a visionary. But although Yingluck Shinawatra, Mr Thaksin’s sister and Thailand’s current prime minister, is soon due to inaugurate the border checkpoint on the road, financial difficulties are once more calling the project into question.

Full story: http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21582554-planned-thai-mega-project-myanmar-runs-difficulty-build-it-and-they-might-come

-- The Economist 2013-08-02[/b]

Wow. What spin. Thailand's PM recently almost begged the Japanese PM, Abe, to help build that port. But the Japanese shunned the idea and decided to build the deep sea port near Yangon, much farther away and out of Thailand's reach. The Japanese and the US have bought large tracts of land there for industrial parks.

"The project’s biggest problems, however, are financial. Japanese investors have been flying in by corporate jet for some time (no Chinese money is involved), but it appears that they cannot quite bring themselves to believe that Dawei will really happen. And besides, the Japanese have been focusing on developing a port and industrial zone at Thilawa, closer to Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city."

Hey, Shinawatras, you've already been jilted.

I wonder why they did not use the route of the old wartime Burmese Railway? Perhaps it was too politically sensative.

asean ...

when will we have the right to own land , same same as thais own land in any country open to everybody else

Not sure how this is news. The same story was out 10 months ago.

Interesting when you watch the corrupt Thai government deal with another corrupt government. One that is so corrupt they make the Thais look good.

Sorry to offend you Thai bashers who have no idea of what is going on in the rest of the world except for your own home country who you choose not to live in.

Inappropriate posts (along with replies quoting them) have been removed