A full draft of the new town plan for the government’s flagship Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) is scheduled to go before the EEC Policy Committee for approval early next month.
Kanit Sangsubhan, secretary-general of the EEC Office, said the committee, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, is due to meet on Aug 5 to approve the new town plan draft for the EEC proposed by the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning.
The new town plan for the EEC has an academic basis and conforms with international principles and Thailand’s Town Planning Act, he said.
The planning covers transport and logistics, information technology, residences and landscape, appropriate environment for manufacturing of target industries, water management, waste treatment, safety measures and accident prevention.
“The new town plan for the EEC will make investors more confident in the EEC, notably for industrial development,” said Mr Kanit.
He said the full draft of the EEC town plan has gone through public participation processes organised by the EEC and the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning, with 40 meetings covering all districts in the three EEC provinces of Chon Buri, Rayong and Chacheongsao.
In April, the EEC Policy Committee approved the initial draft of the new town planning.
The three provinces span 8.3 million rai and have 11% of plots, a total of 913,000 rai, designated as urban or city areas, with 3.4% for industrial (283,561 rai), 68% for farmland (5.65 million rai), 18% for forest conservation (1.49 million rai) and the rest for other purposes.
Under the draft EEC town plan, city areas will make up 16% of the total land (1.33 million rai), up by five percentage points, with industrial areas increasing to 4.9% (406,492 rai). Farmland has been reduced by five percentage points to 63% or 5.23 million rai, while forest conservation areas have been reduced to 10% (830,000 rai).
New city and lodging areas need to be designated because the population in the EEC is projected to double to 6.29 million by 2037.
Tourist numbers are expected to increase by 110% for the area to 51.3 million by 2037.