There has been extensive debate over whether Thailand truly needs a project called the "Landbridge." And whether this project will generate economic benefits that justify an investment potentially exceeding one trillion baht.
The key question is who will use Thailand's Landbridge, especially since Singapore is a dominant hub managing port operations in the strategic Strait of Malacca, while Malaysia and Indonesia are expanding their ports and transport routes into the Strait.
Associate Professor Dr. Piti Srisangnam of the Faculty of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University, an author on geopolitics and a researcher on the Thai Canal, Kra Isthmus, and Landbridge projects, who has studied these topics in detail and continuously, offered straightforward opinions that...
When considering a mega-project of this scale, the government must thoroughly study its feasibility, especially engineering, environmental impact, and economic viability.
Comparing different options, whether digging the Thai Canal, building a Landbridge, or the concept of a "sky canal," the fastest, least costly, and least environmentally damaging option is the Landbridge, which involves constructing or expanding ports on both sides connected by rail, expressways, and pipelines for oil or gas.
As for digging a canal, although this idea has been discussed historically, it faces significant geographic and severe environmental limitations. Meanwhile, the sky canal, while theoretically possible, is practically impossible because it must accommodate massive ships weighing 240,000 to 270,000 tons. This requires extremely large and complex bridge structures capable of supporting hundreds of millions of tons along the shipping route.
Regarding the sky canal or lifting ships over land concept, although it may be technically feasible, Dr. Piti emphasized that practically, it is nearly impossible due to technical, safety, and enormous cost challenges.
A key issue is that large cargo ships moving through narrow areas generate massive waves called Bow Waves, necessitating the construction of large wave barriers and seawalls along the route. Moreover, these giant ships must navigate narrow channels for hundreds of kilometers, greatly increasing accident risks.
"Even if the canal is dug at sea level like the Suez Canal, major problems remain because large seawalls must be built extending many kilometers into the sea on both the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman sides to help large ships safely turn into the canal. Additionally, differences in water levels and currents on both sides would causesevere marine impacts..."
Short-term effects include coral bleaching on both the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman coasts, while long-term impacts affect the entire coastal system, including beaches, fisheries, and coastal communities. A clear example is coastal erosion at Samila Beach and several southern coastal areas. For these reasons, if a canal were to be dug, a ship-lifting system or buffer zone would be needed to prevent direct seawater exchange between both sides, but such measures drastically increase costs and reduceeconomicviability.
Currently, cargo ships can continuously pass through the Strait of Malacca in about 1.5 to 3 days without unloading goods. But if they must use a ship-lifting system or unload containers onto trains to cross a Landbridge, the process takes much longer and increases costs.
Dr. Piti believes that if the Landbridge is intended as an alternative to the Strait of Malacca, the project may not be economically viable due to the problem called "Asymmetric Capacity," meaning the imbalance in transportation capacity between modes. For example, a large cargo ship can carry 20,000 to 24,000 containers, but a single train can only transport about 200 containers, requiring many days to unload,store, and transfer containers onto trains.This also demands vast areas for container yards and transportation scheduling systems.
A key problem for the Landbridge is the "double handling" process,which involves multiple stages of cargo transfer.All these steps consume enormous time: ships may wait 12 to 24 hours to berth, take 2 to 3 days to unload containers, plus additional time to schedule trains—totaling 6 to 9 days—whereas passing through the Strait of Malacca takes only about 2 to 3 days.
However, Dr. Piti acknowledges that the Landbridge could be worthwhile as a "Strategic Alternative," if one day the Strait of Malacca faces problems. This issue is known as the "Malacca Dilemma," referring to the overreliance of major powers like China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan on the Strait of Malacca.
From Dr. Piti's perspective, to truly benefit from the Landbridge, the project must be seen as a "center for economic and logistics activities," connecting Asia's interior (the hinterland) directly to the sea. This area includes southern China, Mongolia, southern Russia, and landlocked Central Asian countries.
He likens the ideal network to the "three-pointed star of a Mercedes-Benz car," with main routes linking northern Asia down to southern Thailand and spreading out to both the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman coasts.
Currently, Japan already uses transport systems through China. If Thailand can develop infrastructure connecting inner Asia to deep-sea ports on theAndaman side,Thailand could become the region's new logistics hub instead of routes detouring around the Malay Peninsula.
If Thailand reframes this as a project linking the economies of the Greater Mekong Subregion and inner Asia—including Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, China, India, Japan, and South Korea—it could become a regional cooperation initiative attracting capital, technology, and geopolitical leverage.
Thailand should use this project as a tool for international collaboration rather than allowing it to become dominated by any single major power. The Landbridge should not be merely a "shortcut," but rather a "new lifeline" that enables Thailand to play a leading role in ASEAN as a true middle power exerting constructive influence.
Dr. Piti suggests the government should not launch immediately into a massive mega-project but start with feasible steps, such as developing the existing Ranong port and linking it to the dual-track railway under construction to create a multimodal transport system connecting ships, trains, and roads.
In an era of trade wars and rising geopolitical tensions, which are as important as economic figures, the government should review all prior research as a "metadata research," to identify neglected dimensions, especially environmental, social, and geopolitical factors, and use the Landbridge as a tool for intelligent strategic balancing.
It is encouraging for the government to have such a knowledgeable expert provide clear insights and ideas that could return Thailand to the global stage, both in attracting massive investment and building bargaining power that commands international attention.