Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim met yesterday during a joint border visit and discussed ways to heighten border trade and tourism cooperation between the two countries.
Among the topics discussed was progress in a bilateral plan to build a new bridge over the Golok River, which serves as a natural borderline between Narathiwat province in Thailand and Kelantan state in Malaysia.
The bridge will link Sungai Kolok in Narathiwat with Rantau Panjang in Kelantan.
The Thai government first approved the second bridge in December 2009 but the proposal languished for many years. It is to be erected parallel to the existing bridge, with a road surface about twice as large to better handle traffic flows.
Thailand is to shoulder 160 million baht in construction costs for the new two-lane bridge, designed to stretch 116 metres. The Malaysian side handled the design work, and both sides have approved the final design.
The first Golok River bridge is in Beketa village in Narathiwat’s Waeng district.
Mr Srettha on Saturday welcomed the Malaysian delegation led by Prime Minister Anwar at the immigration checkpoint in Sungai Kolok.
They attended a briefing on the progress of the bridge project and later travelled together into Pasir Mas district on the other side of the river.
Mr Srettha later posted on X that the talks focused on both nations’ desire to expand economic development in border areas.
He said other discussions included new roads and railways needed to serve Rubber City, a rubber production venture between Songkhla province and Kedah state, both of which hope to increase production capacity for export.
Meanwhile, suppliers of halal goods sold in Thailand, such as Pasir Mas Halal Park in Kelantan, can capitalise on strong demand in Thailand.
The two leaders also agreed to press ahead with the “Six Countries, One Destination” tourism campaign involving Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, Mr Srettha said.