China Harbour Engineering Co (CHEC) is interested in a proposed 1-trillion-baht landbridge project that will link the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, according to the government.
Company chairman Wang Tongzhou expressed the interest during a meeting with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin in Beijing on Wednesday. Mr Srettha was visiting China for the Belt and Road Forum.
Government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said Mr Srettha welcomed the interest and suggested the company could discuss promotional privileges with the Board of Investment.
CHEC is China’s largest infrastructure developer and has done business in Thailand since 1994 through its local subsidiary CHEC (Thai) Co, the spokesman said.
CHEC Thai carries out dredging and reclamation work, road and bridge work, railway tracks, airports and other work related to infrastructure and employs about 500 people, according to its website.
Landbridge projects have been proposed at various locations in southern Thailand over the past four decades but none have ever materialised. Most have met stiff opposition from local communities concerned about the environmental impact of planned ports and industrial estates associated with the projects.
The project envisioned for Chumphon and Ranong, first proposed by the previous government, would be completed in 2039 to facilitate transport between the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, according to Mr Chai.
Planned as a public-private-partnership, the trillion-baht project would include deep-sea ports in Chumphon and Ranong, an inter-city motorway, oil pipelines and double-track railways.
The government will conduct roadshows to promote the project to investors from November to January. Land expropriation is expected to take place from January 2025 to December 2026.
The government will receive investment proposals from international bidders from April to June 2025 and announce bidding winners in August of the same year. It expects construction to begin in September 2025.