We should go ahead and build the Kra Canal

Both writers, “Look before you leap” and Prasan Stianrapapongs, have touched on a fascinating subject. The subject is serious and currently China is hoping for our go ahead to build a Kra Isthmus Canal connecting the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea. 

Historically, the issue started in 1677 when King Narai initiated the survey and followed in 1793 during the reign of King Chakri. In 1897 when both Thailand and the British Empire agreed not to build to maintain the dominance of Singapore harbour. In not building it to-date, the cause was either due to shortage of technology (which is no longer so), fear of a separatist movement, environmental effects, security and above all else fear of being so prominent it would invite conflict. 

In my humble opinion, under the push-and-pull geopolitics in this region, the advantages of having the Canal outweighs all other disadvantages. The only factor in deciding to build or not is whether we want our country to be prominent and invite attention or prefer a quiet life instead of immense prosperity. Having knowledge of management of our younger generation and fantastic information technology, I opt for building the Kra Isthmus Canal. 

Your September 8 article, “Thailand’s Kra Canal: Is Vietnam angling in?”, by Graham Ong-Webb, a Research Fellow with the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore, indicated the likelihood of building this canal because the writer simply could not understand the economic sense why Vietnam should have approved construction of deepwater seaport off its southern-most province of Ca Mau without linking to Kra to go to China. The writer wrote: “The Kra Canal would not only transform Thailand into a regional maritime centre that could trump the Singaporean and Malaysian port hubs along the Malacca Strait. It would also serve as a critical artery of China’s Maritime Silk Road, now part of the country’s “One Belt, One Road” blueprint.”

Songdej Praditsmanont