Thailand to Build Rp533 Trillion (US$32 Billion) Land Bridge to Compete with Malacca Strait
Ignacio Geordi Oswaldo
Jakarta – The Thai government has announced plans to revive the development of a new land corridor connecting the
Indian and Pacific oceans, providing an alternative logistics route to the Malacca Strait. The move follows tensions and the closure of the
Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East.
Citing
The Nation on Friday (September 18, 2026), the proposed project is estimated to cost around
1 trillion baht, or approximately Rp533 trillion (around US$32 billion), based on an exchange rate of Rp533 per Thai baht.
Under the project, the Thai government plans to connect two new deep-sea ports:
Chumphon on the Gulf of Thailand and Ranong on the Andaman Sea. The two coasts would also be connected by railways, highways, and logistics infrastructure across southern Thailand.
The project, backed by the government of Prime Minister
Anutin Charnvirakul, has returned to the spotlight and is set to be revived after the direct war between the United States and Iran caused disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, highlighting the vulnerability of global trade and logistics networks to disruptions at strategic maritime chokepoints.
In addition to providing an alternative should the Malacca Strait eventually face disruptions similar to those affecting the Strait of Hormuz, the ambitious project is also intended to reduce Thailand’s international trade logistics costs.
“The corridor could cut logistics costs by nearly
30% and reduce transit times by as much as
14 days for cargo traveling between southern China and Indian Ocean ports serving South Asia and the Middle East,” according to a Thai government presentation seen by Reuters and cited by
The Nation.
At the heart of the approximately
Rp533 trillion (US$32 billion) project, however, would be a
90-kilometer standard-gauge railway connecting the two deep-sea ports, with capacity to handle as much as
20 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) per year.
The network would be further strengthened by another railway connecting the corridor with Thailand’s existing national rail network. This would create a new logistics route supported by multi-lane highways and local roads.
Thai officials emphasized that the inter-ocean land bridge is
not designed to completely replace the Malacca Strait. Instead, the corridor is intended to capture a portion of the region’s transshipment and feeder-cargo market.
“Thailand is targeting feeder vessels with capacities of
12,000 TEUs or less, rather than large mainline container ships,” said
Jiraroth Sukolrat, Director-General of Thailand’s Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning.
However, the project still faces major challenges. Analysts have said that the
Land Bridge remains highly ambitious from an economic perspective and could struggle to compete with the relatively seamless shipping routes through the Malacca Strait.
Thailand rencanakan jalur alternatif di Selat Malaka untuk menghubungkan Samudra Hindia dan Pasifik. Proyek ini bertujuan memangkas biaya logistik hingga 30%.
finance.detik.com
