The Cabinet's visit to Songkhla is preparing to discuss development proposals from five southern border provinces totaling nearly 200 projects with a budget exceeding 57 billion baht. Phiphat emphasized carefully screening to select projects that are ready, cost-effective, and beneficial to the area, and to prioritize them accordingly.
On 26 August 2026, a source from the Government House revealed that during the preparatory meeting for the first official off-site Cabinet meeting (Cabinet visit) of 2026, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn presided over the meeting on 25 August. The session reviewed project proposals from five southern provinces—Songkhla, Satun, Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat—totaling 199 projects with an initial combined budget of over 57 billion baht. These proposals will be submitted to the Cabinet visit meeting in Songkhla province scheduled for 1 September 2026.
The proposals are broken down by province as follows: The Governor of Songkhla province proposed five preparatory projects for the Cabinet meeting with a total budget of 50 million baht, covering economic, tourism, cultural, transportation, and disaster prevention aspects. Additionally, 26 policy-driven projects seeking government support were proposed, with a combined budget of 35,061.056 million baht from various agencies including the Ministries of Interior, Transport, Energy, Public Health, the Royal Thai Police, Finance, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Digital Economy and Society, Labor, and the Budget Bureau.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment raised concerns about the "Two Seas Connection" project involving boat tours to view Irrawaddy dolphins, citing potential impacts on the ecosystem and the dolphins' habitat. They requested the responsible agencies to reassess the project's suitability and conduct further studies. Additionally, the Songkhla Highway District reported 133 urgent projects, some partially completed, with 106 still unfinished, requesting an additional 1,941 million baht due to flood-related impacts.
. . . The Governor of Satun province proposed 17 urgent projects covering economic development, transportation, and disaster prevention. They also proposed 11 policy projects for government support without specified budgets, all aligned with government policies. Phiphat suggested expanding project scopes to include Manang and Thung Wa districts.
The Governor of Yala province proposed 10 ready-to-implement projects with a budget of 338.145 million baht, plus four projects requesting 4,308 million baht in funding, and one non-budgetary policy proposal from the private sector.
. . . The Governor of Pattani province proposed six ready projects totaling 50 million baht, focusing on proactive disaster monitoring, improving drainage efficiency, alleviating consumer hardships, preventing community flooding, and developing public water sources at ponds 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Phiphat also raised concerns regarding a 400 million baht dredging project in Pattani, assigning the governor to consult with the Marine Department for a prompt conclusion, and requested the province prioritize projects as a primary task before proceeding further.
. . . The Governor of Narathiwat province submitted six ready-to-implement projects totaling 404.790 million baht, along with eight policy projects seeking government support with a combined budget of 15,055.640 million baht. The meeting approved all provincial proposals.
Besides the five provinces' project proposals, the meeting approved additional central budget support for Songkhla province's emergency reserve fund as per the Joint Public-Private Sector Committee (JPPCC) resolution No. 2/2026 on 8 July 2026. Originally covering nine projects with a budget of 99.5 million baht, six projects remain with a budget of 88.1828 million baht. The Ministry of Interior and the Budget Bureau were tasked with follow-up actions. The meeting also approved additional projects from Hat Yai municipality (25.9 million baht) and Khuan Lang municipality (21.134 million baht), totaling 47.034 million baht.
The meeting acknowledged two private sector capability-enhancement proposals for Songkhla province: increasing the competitiveness of Songkhla Port and reducing logistics costs for exporters and importers, plus a comprehensive new economic zone development plan aligned with the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) framework.
Phiphat stated that these proposals are preliminary and must undergo review by the Joint Public-Private Sector Committee (JPPCC) next week, then be submitted to the Cabinet visit meeting in Songkhla. The Prime Minister will scrutinize each project before assigning relevant agencies to proceed accordingly.
“Although many projects have been proposed, the government will carefully vet them, approving only those that are ready, cost-effective, do not impact the budget excessively, and benefit local residents. Some projects may receive preliminary approval only. Priority is likely to be given to urgent flood mitigation projects, which will undergo detailed consideration before submission to the Cabinet visit meeting.”