The governments’ ambitious Land Bridge project to bridge the high seas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans together to boost economic prosperity has raised a big question as to whether it can really bring prosperity to all
Without a Thai nationality due to an error in reporting on her birth in the first place, just like a number of residents living in this coastal province of Ranong in the upper South, which once contested for its territory during a colonialism period, Mathom Sinsuwan’s occupation is completely confined within her community as she cannot travel freely like ordinary Thais and the sea in front of her community is her only ground to make a living.
A Muslim-born Mathom is among over 1,000 families of the Ratchakrut fishing community in the Mueang district of Ranong, where she earned money all her life from marine life in Laem Ao Ang Bay in front of her community to feed her family and grandchildren.
But the residents in this small and quiet fishing community and nearby are now closely watching the government’s moves to see whether it will go ahead with the controversial one trillion-baht Land Bridge project, which they fear could completely ruin their lives and the future. Ratchkrut is where a new deep seaport is designated as part of this mega project. At least nearly 7,000 rai of the sea in the area will be reclaimed to facilitate the construction of a new port, alongside other supporting structures, including breakwaters, new navigation channels and others.
“We want the government to make the right decision for this project as it could harm our livelihoods. The compensation means nothing to us. We don’t want money. We want to keep the fertile and sacred place for the next generation. If the project happens, we will have no home and no future,” she said, adding that the residents would do all means to protect their homes and the bay from the catastrophe.
Like other fishers, Mathom’s boat and those of her fisher folks are relatively small, so it’s not capable of travelling afar, but is very limited to the close distance of around two or three kilometres away from the shore, she explained. Mathom said the fishers usually set up nets and other fishing equipment along the coast to catch fish, shrimps, squid, shells, crabs and more. Being designated as the construction site of the new deep sea port, she said, the marine animals and their ecosystems will be forever gone, leaving huge damage to the residents’ living. Authorities will strictly regulate marine traffic, and their boats would then be affected as a result as they could be barred from travelling freely in search of marine animals as ever, she added.
Mathom projected that several local fishing communities in the Mueang and Kapoe districts will be affected the most by the project. Without a Thai nationality that can guarantee their rights to fundamental needs including free travel, she said they are foreseeing unbearable consequences, adding she and her neighbours are generally recognised as “Thai nationals without Thai nationality”, suggesting no other job opportunities to make a living.
Due to its coastal geography, a large number of populations in the Upper South rely on fishery and other work in fishing-related industries. According to the Department of Fisheries, the available record from two years ago showed that there were around 3,000 local fishing boats in Ranong and 3,500 more in Chumphon respectively. The numbers are even higher when including 354 commercial trawlers in Ranong and 791 in Chumphon.
In Ranong, the catch of marine animals was registered by the department at 34,478 tons or 13.79% of the total catch in the Andaman Sea, and it’s valued at 1.01 billion baht or 11.75%. In Chomphon, the department recorded the catch of marine animals at 110,525 tons or 14.60% of the total catch in the Gulf of Thailand. This was valued at 3.9 billion baht or 12.87%.
World Heritage nomination
The region is not only a fertile hub of food production to feed over 67 million people in the country, but it has also been widely known as the country’s famous tourist destination with a charm of clean and crystal white and powdery sand along quiet and pristine beaches. Under its seawater is even more incredibly beautiful with mega-colourful coral reef colonies and rare-to-see aquatic creatures witnessed by divers around the world.
Its natural virginity and the aesthetics of its seaside heritage in Ranong and Chumphon are included in a plan to nominate the site and its neighbouring Andaman seaside to be preserved and protected under the inscription of the World Heritage status.
Sakanan Plathong, a lecturer with the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science at Prince of Songkla University who conducts a proposal of Andaman Sea territory for World Heritage Site nomination, said that Ranong is a significant part of the World Heritage Site nomination, which has included its two national parks of Mu Ko Ranong, and Laem Son, plus mangrove sites and biosphere reserve nearby. The province has a very outstanding value of mangroves, of which their fertility and significance are very close to the world heritage Darien and Coiba National Park in Panama, he cited.
The marine expert further explained that the two deep seaport projects at both ends would have 6,975 rai of sea reclamation in Ranong and 5,808 rai in Chumphon, respectively. He said these could cause an immense amount of sediment, which will directly affect coral reef colonies and decrease the marine ecological system’s fertility.
The construction of these mega-ports will be a major cause of change in the water currents, thus affecting marine animals’ routes and their feeding and breeding cycles. This particularly holds true in mangrove areas, he said. Moreover, the design of the route that will cross over the Mo Koh Ranong National Park to the port might have a strong impact on the four-kilometre mangrove zone.
“Ranong’s coastline is very fertile with marine natural resources. It is a hub of seafood producers and a breeding ground for sea turtles. The government needs to think carefully whether it is worth to trade the nature that could never be replaced by humans or the projects that it believes carry a high financial return”, he said, adding that without a serious study on environmental impacts, no one would be able to make clear of this point.
Another risky area, according to the expert, is Koh Phayam, which is only two kilometres away from the new port of Ranong. It is a famous place for tourism and a place for fishing for the local community. Unfortunately, it will not be able to avoid the impacts if the project goes ahead.
“The project is too huge, and no measures will help prevent or limit the critical impacts. If constructed, the marine ecological system will be lost forever. We are going to lose one of our premium marine sites in the country,” he warned.
Fertile orchards
Aside from valuable marine resources, the Upper South is famous for its fertile orchards due to sufficient precipitation. Its famous fruits from the orchards include durians, rambutans, mangosteens and more, as well as economic plantations like rubber and oil palm.
Somchoke Jungjaturun, an orchard owner-turned-leader of Phato Conservation Network, which strongly opposes the Land Bridge project, has repeatedly called on the government to review the project with inclusive and participatory inputs from the residents as his group views that the ongoing process lacks public participation.
The network, early last month, made a three-day trip to Bangkok to directly call on the government via a petition submitted. It also demanded the government to level up its study to the Strategic Environmental Assessment as well as proposing to the public alternatives to the project. It also demanded a new joint committee to be set up to proceed with the group’s calls.
According to Mr. Somchoke, the network’s demands have not been met at all. Mr. Somchoke and the network have freshly withdrawn from joining a sub-panel set up by Phato District, citing it was not meant to address the network’s demands but instead attempted to convince the residents to accept the government’s compensation terms and offers.
The network has also submitted a petition to at least four concerned Standing Committees of the Lower House chaired by the government opposition party, Move Forward. It asked the committees to investigate the project to see the scope of its study on possible impacts as well as concerned processes the network claims falling short of the standard of practices.
Information is hardly available especially possible impacts on the residents’ livelihoods, their properties, and the environment, the network claims. Some network advisors said there is no revelation of the extent of the resident’s properties and land that could be affected by the project and its related infrastructure including railways and motorways.
Without available information, the network has been trying to work on the scope of impacts themselves to counter the government’s information, one advisor said. The problem is that Land Bridge comprises several projects combined, and it’s hard for environmental and community rights advocates and residents to keep up with their progress. Some public hearings have been held for those projects, including the deep sea ports at both ends, but the residents have now decided to turn down their participation as a means to safeguard their rights.
The Lower House, in the middle of last month, rushed to vote in favour of a review study of the project undertaken by a special committee assigned, with 269 to 147 votes, prompting at least four committee members from the Move Forward Party to declare their withdrawal from the study, citing the incomplete study.
Mr. Somchoke said the government is not sincere in handling this project. While it claims that the project is still under study, it has undertaken a roadshow touting investors to invest in the project on the other hand.
“We do not oppose development, but development must be based on local resources and capacities. Ranong and Chumphon are farm-based provinces with high GDP generated each year but you are going to destroy all these with industrial development. This is not in harmony with local livelihoods and we would like the government to review the project. The government is from an election and we are part of it. It’s not authoritarian, so please listen to the people,” said Somchoke.
Hannarong Yaowalers and Somboon Khamhaeng, environmental and community rights activists working in the Southern areas, have questioned hard about the project’s rationale, given potential benefits explained by the Srettha government which they said sound “exaggerated” while environmental and social impacts have been toned down and relevant facts and information excluded. For instance, there is no report on the possible impacts on mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs around the seaport site designated. Hannarong, who also sat on the special House committee, noted.
The activists are now suspecting the Srettha government’s moves on enacting the new law on the Southern Economic Corridor (SEC), fearing it would be used to serve land-grabbing to facilitate the project and possibly foreign agribusiness.
l Graphics presenting the project by the OTP. Credit: OTP
Land Bridge Project
The Land Bridge project was approved in principle by the Prayut Chan-o-cha cabinet on August 21, 2018, as part of the government’s strategy to develop transport infrastructure in the South. It’s particularly aimed at developing transportation logistics between the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea in an attempt to make use of its connections to the high seas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans while promoting economic growth in Chumphon, Ranong, Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat province, where are designated as part of the Southern Economic Corridor (SEC).
The project includes the construction of two deep seaports in Ranong and Chumphon, the network of double-track railways and motorways, and other supporting facilities. Some new industrial estates are also anticipated although information is scant and not confirmed.
Since then, the Ministry of Transport and its Transport and Traffic Policy Department have undertaken feasibility studies and formulated plans and a new Business Development Model for this project, which is simply called Land Bridge. It gives a reason that Thailand’s geographic location can be developed to become a gateway for import into and export out of the Thai territory, transhipment between the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean through railway and road networks, and a port industry that can attract foreign investments for industrial development in the South. With such a strategic location, the project could be a potential choice for clients who wish to avoid traffic congestion in the Strait of Malacca, which it claims to clog with at least 85,000 ships a year.
According to the plan, the two deep seaports will be constructed in Laem Ao Ang in Ranong and Laem Riew in Lang Suan district of Chumphon. With 89.35 kilometres in distance, they will be connected by elevated motorways and railways, equipped with pipeline systems and other service roads.
The Srettha government late last year started to bring this project on its radar, promoting it as a new economic engine and touting investors in major events including APEC and the World Economic Forums, apparently following its unfulfilled 500 billion baht Digital Wallet project, which has been facing a stumbling block up until now. Land Bridge didn’t appear in his government’s policies declared before the Parliament when it entered an office although it mentioned the development of transport infrastructure and economic corridors.
It was not until mid-October last year that his cabinet endorsed the project in principle and instructed the Transport Ministry to gauge views from investors during road shows and invite them to invest in the project through a request to proposal or RFP.
Cost-benefit analysis
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sompong Sirisiponsilp, a logistics and transportation expert of Chula Unisearch, Chulalongkorn University, who previously conducted a review on the project, raised a big question of whether this mega-project will be able to strengthen sustainable economic growth because an expected giant financial return is likely to depend on vessels and clients. It is still unclear whether they will come and use the ports because there are many high-potential ports in neighbouring countries like Singapore, Indonesia and even Vietnam, which is going to develop its hub of seaports in the region.
The logistics expert also pointed out that a study supported by the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council pointed out that around three million containers will be taken to the ports for the first year and to achieve its maximum capacity of 20 million containers a year (as expected from each port), this will take around 30 years. Laem Chabang port in Chonburi province, which is surrounded by industrial plants, carries only eight million containers a year, he cited.
The deep seaports under the Land Bridge Project are mainly designed for transhipment, which hopes to get clients from the Middle East, the EU and more. But the major challenge is involved with non-seamless transportation, which needs to have land-loaded shipments from one port to another, which is costly, the professor noted.
His comment is in line with the Dubai World Report, which stated: “The total estimated costs per round voyage for the Thai Land Bridge route, using the case of the Far East-Europe market, are nearly US$2 million (or 25%) higher than the maritime route via the Malacca Strait. These numbers strongly suggest the Thai Land Bridge will not be economical versus the all-maritime route via the Malacca Strait for the Far East- Europe market and any other major route from the Far East to Western markets. The land bridge’s handicap is that transit traffic in the Far East-Europe market (accounting for about 80% of total two-way traffic), would require additional port handling and rail land bridge costs, estimated at US$1.8 million per round voyage.”
The analysis leads to the conclusion that the Thai Land Bridge would not be able to attract the mass volumes in the Far East to and from Europe, the Far East to and from the Middle East, the US West Coast to and from the Middle East and the Far East to and from West India markets.
Meanwhile, the Thai National Shippers’ Council proposed the Lower House’s committee on logistics development for the SEC last December, which concluded that a majority hub of industrial plants is located in the Eas,t so it has preferred to use nearby Laem Chabang port for cost reduction instead of using the Land Bridge ports. It also said that a majority of clients will be small or medium-sized feeders, not long-haul vessels as expected.
It suggested that the government put more investments into improving the capacity of current deep seaports to reach maximum benefit, such as deep seaports in Songkhla and Ranong province,e so that it could serve the existing industries and new industries under the SEC. It should also fix the problem of transhipment in Laem Chanbang Seaport to facilitate marine shipment opportunities in the future.
“A cause of poor economic development in the country results in less competency ability in SMEs business. Its production is done by only half of its full-scale production due to less demand in the world market. That is the point that the government should invest in; up-skilling SME entrepreneurs, enhancing the country’s competency to develop its technology, and importantly, upgrading an educational system,” Dr. Sompong said.
The professor stressed that the country would not escape poverty if it still depended on foreign investments, adding that the government should exercise more efforts to support Thai companies to be able to invest more in foreign countries.
“The project unlikely fits the goal (of development of the South),” Dr. Sompong concluded, adding that the South has more opportunity to grow because of its uniqueness of natural resources that could be perfectly matched with the healthcare and wellness business.
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