Transport Minister orders fresh review of 997bn-baht land bridge study
Phiphat orders OTP to re-check the 997bn-baht land bridge study amid objections. The project is pitched as a Malacca bypass cutting shipping time by 4 days.
Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn has ordered a fresh review of the feasibility work on Thailand’s land bridge project—valued at about 997 billion baht—saying the findings need to be clarified again as objections persist.
Phiphat said the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP) has previously studied the project’s viability, but the Transport Ministry has now asked OTP to revisit and refine the assessment because some local residents and a major political party continue to oppose the scheme.
What the land bridge is meant to do
The land bridge is designed to create a sea–land logistics corridor linking the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, centred on ports in Chumphon and Ranong, as an alternative route to the heavily used Strait of Malacca.
Phiphat described the project’s core selling point as time savings: shipping routes from the Middle East or Europe could call at Ranong, transfer cargo across Thailand, and continue towards the Pacific—cutting around four days compared with routing via the Malacca Strait and Singapore.
Investment model and jobs
Phiphat said the government does not need to fund the full investment itself. Instead, the plan is to open the project to private-sector participation through competitive bidding, as the state does not have sufficient budget and also needs private-sector technology and commercial networks.
Phiphat said the project is expected to generate large-scale “follow-on” industries on both sides of the corridor—spanning supply chains and trade in consumer goods, fresh food and fuel—and could create up to 300,000 jobs across the two-coast areas, alongside industrial estates near port zones.
Phiphat said the Andaman-side (Ranong) plan would not include a refinery or petrochemicals complex, while the Gulf-side plan would be reviewed again.
Political backdrop
Phiphat said the land bridge has been studied since 2023 and was previously promoted under earlier administrations, including roadshows. Phiphat also said Bhumjaithai Party would push the project forward if it returns to government, framing it as a major economic stimulus and as a project with broader implications for other infrastructure priorities.
