New Land Bridge hits speed bump

'Extensive' development needed

PUBLISHED : 10 May 2026 at 06:38

NEWSPAPER SECTION: News

WRITER: Jutamas Tadthiemrom

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Researchers from Chulalongkorn University's Transportation Institute have raised concerns over the government's proposed Land Bridge project, saying it may struggle to compete with regional shipping routes and could fail to generate the expected economic returns without extensive industrial development.

The concerns were raised at a forum titled "Landbridge: Perspectives on the Future of Thailand's Transportation and Logistics" held on Thursday at the CU Social Innovation Hub in Bangkok.

The event, organised by the transport institute and nine other research organisations, aimed to encourage discussion on the project's economic viability, environmental impacts and policy implications.

The private sector is being invited to invest 900 billion baht in the Land Bridge project to connect the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea with ports, roads, railway tracks and pipelines through the southern provinces of Chumphon and Ranong.

Sompong Sirisoponsilp, a transport and logistics specialist with the university, said the proposal, pushed by the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP), was designed mainly as a transhipment hub rather than a gateway port serving Thai exports.

Under the OTP study, about 80% of the project's projected economic viability would rely on container transhipment activities, he said.

"If the objective is to build a port on the Andaman coast to support Thai cargo, the project should instead be developed as a gateway port," he said.

"Such a model could be four to five times smaller than the current proposal, reducing environmental impacts, lowering investment risks and cutting the project size by about 80%."

Mr Sompong said geographic location alone would not guarantee shipping traffic, noting that global shipping operators select ports based on operating costs, logistics connectivity and efficiency rather than proximity alone.

Surachart Bamrungsuk, a security and geopolitics expert with the university, said the project should be evaluated across economic, environmental and security dimensions.

Thailand can no longer afford to assess large-scale infrastructure projects solely on projected returns, he said, stressing the need to balance financial gains with environmental sustainability, social impacts and strategic security concerns.

Mr Surachart also questioned the project's financing, noting the government had already accumulated substantial public debt.

"If additional borrowing is required to fund the Land Bridge project, it could undermine investor confidence and affect the country's creditworthiness."

He added that transparency and accountability would be essential to prevent the project from becoming a "mega-corruption" case that could ultimately collapse.

Wipawadee Panyangnoi, a specialist in community rights and development with the university, questioned the rationale behind creating a new western trade gateway when the Ranong Port has struggled for years to attract major commercial shipping traffic.

Meanwhile, more than 100,000 signatures had been collected as of Saturday after three organisations launched a petition calling on the government to review the proposed Land Bridge project, far exceeding the required threshold of 50,000 names.

The Environmental Law Foundation (EnLAW), together with Greenpeace and Beach For Life, launched the online campaign late last month through stop-sec.com under the slogan "Stop SEC Act & Land Bridge -- Stop special laws for special interests".

As of 2.15pm Saturday, the petition had already received 109,237 signatures and endorsements.

The signatures will be submitted to the government and relevant agencies as part of efforts to push for a reconsideration of the project.

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- Thailand land bridge

- Transportation infrastructure

- Logistics development

- Chumphon ranong project

- Transhipment hub

- Economic viability

- Environmental impact assessment