Following on August 14's Will Singapore Be Bypassed? "Blocking Thailand’s solution to China’s ‘Malacca Dilemma’":
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From Nikkei Asia, August 28:
Environmental and political concerns cloud plan to build new trade artery
BANGKOK -- As Thailand inches forward on its decades-old vision for a logistics corridor connecting the Pacific and Indian oceans, local opposition and political instability threaten the plans.
The proposed 90-kilometer highway-and-rail link would cut across the Malay Peninsula, connecting a planned port facing the Indian Ocean in Ranong province with another planned port, in Chumphon province, along the Gulf of Thailand and with a lane to the Pacific Ocean. A special economic zone will be established nearby.
The megaproject would allow cargo to bypass the congested Strait of Malacca -- a choke point that is sandwiched by Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia and is only expected to grow busier as Asia's economy expands.
But the plan threatens environmental devastation for Koh Phayam, a resort island famous for sparkling blue waters and coral reefs near the planned port in Ranong.
The government has told residents of Koh Phayam that the port will cover roughly 1,000 hectares. Shipping lanes for giant bulk carriers would be established near the island, which involves digging into roughly 6,400 hectares of seabed -- about twice the area of the island itself....
....MUCH MORE
