POST A COMMENT

Add your comment by filling out the form below in plain text. Comments are approved by a moderator and can be edited in accordance with RFAs Terms of Use. Comments will not appear in real time. RFA is not responsible for the content of the postings. Please, be respectful of others' point of view and stick to the facts.

COMMENTS

Anonymous
Oct 05, 2020 06:30 AM

The canal option would be immensely expensive (USD 28 billion) and would bankrupt Thailand and would never pay for itself. The benefits are minimal - look at the map - the saving in sailing time is minimal. Look at the Suez canal and Panama canal - the benefit and savings in travel time is huge, and they still took a long time to pay themselves off.

The rail link is cheap, and it is better and faster for container transshipment, since the cargo has to be unloaded and loaded anyway, and the 100km rail trip is much faster than a return ship journey through the canal. Also with the rail link, rather than just having ships sail through Thailand, the rail link will allow an industrial corridor and factories to develop along the freight rail line to process and manufacture as well as ship in/out. This will provide Thailand much more benefit in terms of economy and jobs than a ship canal. For example Panama has the Panama canal, Egypt has the Suez canal, but both provide very few jobs or economic benefits beyond the transit charges,