The construction of a new deep-sea port in Trat's Khlong Yai district is expected to be completed on schedule by next July in time to cash in on economic expansion from the opening of Asean Economic Community in late 2015.
The 1.3-billion-baht port is designed to support growing international trade between Thailand and Cambodia and Vietnam, with capacity to accommodate vessels of 500 gross tonnes.
Khlong Yai is also one of the first five special economic zones designated by the National Council for Peace and Order last week to promote border trade.
The four other areas are Mae Sot in Tak province; Aranyaprathet in Sa Kaeo; Sadao and Padang Besar in Songkhla; and Mukdahan. Border checkpoints at these sites will be improved.
The multi-purpose port is also equipped with a new 3,000-metre pier that will accommodate more boats and hopefully increase travel to the tourist islands of Koh Kut and Koh Mak.
The new port will allow people to bypass the congested route to reach exit ports for these islands, said Trat governor Benchawan Anpriang.
She expected the port to help absorb excess cargo shipments from the other two ports as they have insufficient capacity to handle 13-15 billion baht in shipments per year.
Chatchai Suriya-amporn, a project manager at contractor Italian-Thai Development Co, said heavy rains this year had deterred construction of the port, which began a year ago. He said the project was more than half complete but still 15% behind schedule. However, it will be finished by next July as planned.