India Considers Investment in Thai Land Bridge Project

During a recent visit to India, Thai Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Pampree Bahiddha-Ankara discussed the Land Bridge Project, the potential for waiving visa requirements for Thais traveling to India, and met with local authorities and businessmen..During these talks, the two nations' officials expressed interest in raising the total value of trade to 1.25 trillion Baht (35 billion USD) by 2027. The officials discussed various ways to meet this goal, including eliminating trade difficulties and holding talks to expand free trade agreements..Pampree also introduced the Land Bridge Project (LBP) to Indian officials, who in turn agreed to review the practicality of the project. The LBP consists of constructing deep-sea ports in the Chumphon and Ranong provinces, along with building railway and highway links connecting the ports, ultimately linking the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea. The total investment costs for the project are estimated to be around 1 trillion Baht (27 billion USD)..Other ideas included exploring opportunities to integrate this project with India's seven-nation Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) project..Thailand expressed interest in any future projects in the automotive, solar energy, and green hydrogen industries.