New Thai-Malaysia bridge work could start next April

Governor of Narathiwat says design schedule was linked to economic study completion.

New Thai-Malaysia bridge work could start next April
On Wednesday, the Thai-Malay gate on the Thai part of the Sungai Kolok city of Narathiwat, on the other side, shows the welcome sign to Malaysia. ( Photo: Narathiwat public relations office )

The provincial government has predicted that development of a new gate linking Thailand and Malaysia in the Narathiwat district’s Sungai Kolok district will begin in April of next year.

According to Trakul Thotham, the start of construction would depend on the completion of the environmental impact assessment ( EIA ), according to Bernama news agency on Thursday.

On Wednesday, he gave a briefing to Organization of Islamic Cooperation ( OIC ) members who were traveling to Sungai Kolok. Additionally, they traveled to the page of the current gate that runs through Kelantan, the state of Malaysia, with Rantau Panjang.

The Narathiwat provincial public relations company reported the trip, but did not mention the completion date, stating only that the new bridge would encourage trade and tourism between the two neighbors.

The EIA is expected to be finished in September, according to Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai next year. The gate initiative will receive 160 million baht from the government.

The second bridge crossing the Kolok River was approved in 2009 to ease the existing bridge’s customers. With a street surface roughly twice as large as the current bridge, it will be constructed opposite to the existing bridge to better handle traffic flows.

The two nations will share the cost of building evenly.

Un members also took a tour of the Yala and Pattani regions from Tuesday to Thursday.