(March 22): Thailand unveiled draft legislation to create a special economic zone in the south of the country that would pave the way for a multibillion-dollar transport project linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

The bill would establish a commission to speed up development of the Southern Economic Corridor in the provinces of Chumphon, Ranong, Suratthani and Nakhon Si Thammarat, according to a Transport Ministry statement.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s Pheu Thai party is proposing the so-called Landbridge project at a cost of about one trillion baht (US$29 billion or RM130.91 billion), to link two proposed seaports on either side of the country’s southern peninsula with a new highway and rail line. The 100km connection would cut shipping times between the Indian and Pacific oceans by bypassing the Malacca Strait — a narrow sea lane between Malaysia and Singapore that is one of the world’s busiest ocean routes.   

The new commission, chaired by the prime minister, will be responsible for the development of logistics, infrastructure, information technology and other facilities in the specified areas, according to the draft bill. It will also be in charge of finding the money to fund the project.

The draft bill is being presented for public hearing before proceeding to the Cabinet and parliament.

Former prime minister Srettha Thavisin, also from the Pheu Thai party, previously pitched the Landbridge project to overseas investors during visits to the US and China.

Thailand aims to complete the project by 2030 and foreign investors will be allowed to own more than 50% of joint ventures with local companies to build the infrastructure. The deep sea ports in Ranong in the Andaman Sea and Chumphon in the Gulf of Thailand may cost 630 billion baht, according to the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning.

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