Suriya promotes land bridge project to Chinese investors
More than 30 Chinese entrepreneurs attended the Thailand Land Bridge Roadshow event hosted by the Thai Transport Ministry on Wednesday in Beijing.
The roadshow, which aims to attract investment in the 1-trillion-baht megaproject, was led by Deputy PM and Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, who has been in China since earlier this week on various transport-related missions.
Chinese entrepreneurs in the logistics, shipping, port management, finance, industrial estate, insurance and construction industries attended the event at Grand Hyatt Beijing Hotel. They included representatives from COSCO Shipping Lines (Beijing), Sinotrans Overseas Development, China Harbour Engineering, China Railway International Development, Hutchison Ports, China Machinery Engineering Corporation, China Shandong International Economic & Technical Cooperation Group, and Xiaomi Corporation.
Suriya explained the mega project, which involves constructing deep-sea ports in Chumphon and Ranong provinces in the South of Thailand and transforming transport routes between Chumphon and Ranong to link the ports.
The land bridge will establish a link between the Pacific and Indian oceans, easing shipping congestion in the Malacca Straits, currently the main regional trade route for cargo.
Suriya told prospective investors that apart from direct benefits to logistics operators, the private sector would also be invited to take part in the development of commercial projects around the land bridge and benefit from concession contracts over 50 years.
He added that the ministry aims to propose the draft of the project to the Southern Economic Corridor Office in the fourth quarter of this year and begin dispatching investment invitations in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Project bids are expected to start in the second quarter of 2026, with land expropriation and construction beginning in the fourth quarter of that year. The land bridge is expected to be complete and ready for use by 2030.
The estimated 1 trillion-baht budget for the project is divided into:
- 300 billion baht for the development of the port on the Ranong side
- 330 billion baht for the development of the port on the Chumphon side
- 140 billion baht for establishing a STRO (Single Rail Transfer Operator) cargo transfer centre within the ports
- 220 billion baht for developing transport infrastructure connecting the two ports.
