From Asia Times, May 4:
90-kilometer road, rail and pipeline corridor across kingdom’s southern isthmus promises alternative to Malacca chokepoint
BANGKOK – While Asia suffers from Strait of Hormuz blockades, Bangkok is offering Beijing, Singapore and others a planned multi-billion dollar “land bridge” across Thailand’s thin peninsula, to link shipping between the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand instead of south through the equatorial Strait of Malacca.
China, the US and other countries could use the 90-kilometer-long land bridge for commercial, military and other shipping, potentially reducing fuel costs and time on routes to and from the Persian Gulf and South China Sea.
Beijing’s use of the proposed shorter shipping route could also benefit China if the US were to blockade the Strait of Malacca during a regionwide conflict over Taiwan or other issues.
Thailand’s newly reelected Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has pointed to growing uncertainty around key maritime chokepoints, including the Strait of Hormuz, as justification for moving the project forward, according to a Bangkok Post report.
“The government is also preparing a series of international roadshows to attract foreign investment,” the paper said. The entire project could cost more than US$30 billion, Thai Senator Norasate Prachyakorn told parliament on April 27.
Singapore’s Defense Minister Chan Chun Sing met Anutin on April 27 in Bangkok to discuss the land bridge and other issues.
“They recognize the project’s potential and the opportunities it could create for Thailand and the wider region if it proceeds,” said Bangkok’s government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek.
The project’s supporters say the land bridge could also fit into China’s Belt and Road Initiative by linking to Thailand’s existing railway lines and highways, which are slowly being upgraded.
Some of those Thai lines feed in and out of Laos, where a Chinese-built high-speed train already zips across northern Laos, linking the tiny communist country to southern China.
To avoid depending too heavily on China, Thailand opened the land bridge project to international investors, supposedly attracting interest from India, Dubai, Japan, Europe and elsewhere, including port developers, shipping lines and real estate developers....
....MUCH MORE
Previously: August 14, 2024 - Will Singapore Be Bypassed? "Blocking Thailand’s solution to China’s ‘Malacca Dilemma’":
US should help finance Thai ‘land bridge’ project to prevent it from falling under China’s control and influence
The proposed route of Thailand's emerging land bridge project. Image: X Screengrab
August 27, 2024 - Maybe Singapore Won't Be Bypassed: "Thailand's 'land bridge' ambitions face fresh roadblocks"
In addition to the land bridge another proposal is the cross-Thailand canal:
April 2025 - Will China Bypass Singapore And The Strait of Malacca With A Canal Across Thailand Into The Indian Ocean?
....You can see how this project ties in with China's naval base across the Gulf of Thailand on Cambodia's west coast at Ream:
From April 22's "RAND: "The Gulf of Thailand May Be the Next U.S.-China Flashpoint":
In fact the Kra canal project would allow China's navy a much more direct route to their only other overseas base on the route into the Suez Canal.
February 2024 - "Red Sea Rivalries"
The most amazing thing that has been pointed out over the last couple months is that China's base on Djibouti's Gulf of Aden coast, at the approaches to the Bab al-Mandab chokepoint into the Red Sea, gives them the perfect location to monitor Houthi action and American reaction:
—China Officially Sets Up Its First Overseas Base in Djibouti, The Diplomat
