Surveying of border areas began in Tak province on Friday for the planned Mae Sot metropolis, part of the new east-west economic corridor to connect with Myanmar.
Traffic moves across the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge between Mae Sot and Myawaddy (photo by Assawin Pinitwong)
Terdkiat Chinsoranan, adviser to Tak provincial governor Somchai Hathayatan and former Mae Sot mayor, led the working group which began the survey along the Thai-Myanmar border in Mae Sot, Mae Ramat and Phop Phra districts.
They were looking for an area where a tunnel can be built under the Moei River to link Mae Sot and adjacent Myawaddy town in Myanmar, for route for a 40-kilometre-long expressway from the centre of Tak to Mae Sot, a site for a second airport for Mae Sot, and for a second Thai-Myanmar friendship bridge.
There are also proposals for a Mae Sot-Myawaddy golf course project.
The findings of the survey on Friday will be presented to a joint public-private sector committee next Wednesday, and then a proposal will be forwarded to the government to back Tak's budget request to fund the development of the Mae Sot metropolis project.