Pressure Builds for Thai Kra Canal

• 11 September 2017
• Construction Focus
• 1624 Views

Pressure is mounting on the Thai government from a powerful domestic and Chinese lobby group to approve a study into building an international shipping canal.

The proposed 140km twin canal project would provide access across Thailand’s Kra isthmus, allowing ships to avoid the Straits of Malacca.

Located between Sumatra and the Malay peninsula, the straits see over 94,000 ships pass each year which accounts for a quarter of the world’s traded goods and 80 percent of the oil and gas imports of China, Japan and South Korea.

The Thai lobbyists are pressing the economic benefits while China will benefit from a three-day reduction in shipping time between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans as part of the One Belt, One Road strategy.