Road to Burma's coast
to turn Kanchanaburi
into Thai transportation hub
By Jon Fernquest
Recent
talks between Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his Burmese counterpart General Thein Sein gave a big push to an important economic development project that will connect
Burma and Thailand by road and boost economic cooperation between the two countries in
the future.
The 130-kilometre-long road will connect Kanchanaburi, near Bangkok, to the planned deep-sea port in Tavoy [Burmese: Dawei] on Burma's southern coastline. Connecting Thailand to Burma's western coast at Tavoy could turn Kanchanaburi and Thailand into a regional transportation hub. Instead of transporting goods by ship down to Singapore and around the Strait of Malacca, goods from Thailand, Yunnan, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam could be sent straight to India, the Middle East, and Europe via Tavoy on the Burmese coast. This would shorten transportation time by as much as six days, reducing transportation costs by as much as 20%.
There are other expected economic benefits for both Thailand and Burma. PTT, Thailand's largest gas and oil company, will be able to lay a pipeline along the route to get easier access to natural gas in the Gulf of Martaban. Road connections from Bangkok to Yangon will also allow easier contact by road between the people of Thailand and the people of Burma. In the long-run, this should lead to a much needed boost in trade, investment, tourism, and educational exchanges between the two countries. The project will also create more jobs in rural Kanchanaburi.
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The project is ten years in the making. Originally, a study was ordered after HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn proposed the idea. The project was officially classified as part of Thailand's Western Seaboard development by the government National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) which is in charge of development planning.
Finding a route from Thailand to the Burmese coast wasn't easy. Kanchanaburi's border with Burma is a long 374 kilometers with 30 border passes, the most famous of which is Three Pagoda's Pass in Sangkhla Buri district. Most of the passes are impractical because they pass through mountainous forest area. Some areas are watershed areas protected by law. A suitable route only 70 kilometres from downtown Kanchanaburi and 130 kilometres from Tavoy was finally found. The route passes through the village of Ban Phunamron in tambon Ban Kao of Muang district in Kanchanaburi. The first phase of the project will construct a 54.5 kilometer two lane highway for 340 million baht. The second phase will expand the highway to four lanes with an investment of another 850 million baht.
(Source: Bangkok Post, @Thailand section, Piyarach Chongcharoen, 10-05-08, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
Tavoy
- the city on Burma's southern coast that is the proposed site of a
deep sea port, to be connected to Kanchanaburi and Thailand by road
(See Wikipedia
on Tavoy/Dawei) เมืองทวาย
เป็นเมืองที่ติดกับประเทศไทยที่เมืองกาญจนบุรี
มีเทือกเขาตะนาวศรีกั้น
a deep-sea port - a landing place for very large
ships (See Wikipedia)
ท่าเรือน้ำลึก
talks - formal discussions to produce an agreement
การเจรจา
a counterpart - another person with the same
position as you have in another company, organisation, or government
คู่
gave a big push - helped it a lot ให้ความช่วยเหลือ
economic development - the growth of a country's
economy การเติบโตทางเศรษฐกิจ
cooperation - working together with other people to
achieve a goal ความร่วมมือ
a transportation hub - a place where many
transportation routes join together, so goods and people can transfer
from local to regional or international transportation (for example,
Suvarnabhumi Airport is an transportation hub, from Chiang Rai you can
change planes for a flight to the USA)
ศูนย์กลางการคมนาคมขนส่ง
(เพื่อเป็นที่ขนถ่ายสินค้าจากภายในประเทศส่งออกต่างประเทศ
และจากต่างประเทศไปขายในประเทศ
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Strait of Malacca - the narrow waterway past
Singapore that ships from Thailand and Asia have to pass through to get
to India, the Middle East, and Europe (See Wikipedia) ช่องแคบมะละกา
go to X via Y - go through Y on your way to
X เดินทางผ่านเมืองหนึ่งเพื่อไปยังอีกเมืองหนึ่ง
expected - believe will happen คาดว่า
(จะเกิดขึ้น)
contact - regular meeting and
communication between two groups of people การพบปะ ติดต่อ
ระหว่างคนสองกลุ่ม
in the long-run - over a long period of time,
several years ในระยะยาว
trade - the buying and selling of
goods การค้าขาย
rural - in the countryside (farms,
forests), not the city ชนบท
ten years in the making - has taken 10 years for the
project to be completed มีระยะเวลาดำเนินการ 10 ปี
classified as - put in a group of things
with similar characteristics ถูกจัดประเภท หรือจำแนกเป็น
a route - a way between two places
(for example, a truck route, an air route, a shipping route)
เส้นทางเชื่อมต่อระหว่างที่หนึ่งกับอีกที่หนึ่ง
a pass, a mountain pass - a narrow path or route
between mountains ทางผ่าน
a border pass - a route through the
mountains into another country ด่าน (ผ่านเข้าออกระหว่างประเทศ
เช่นด่านเจดีย์สามองค์)
impractical - an idea that does not work
in the real world, not practical ไม่เหมาะสมในทางปฏิบัติ
watershed areas - a forest area with streams
and rivers that collects water that can be used as a regional water
supply (See Wikipedia
on drainage basin)
บ่อพักน้ำ แหล่งเก็บน้ำ
a suitable route - a route that can be used to
achieve a goal, an acceptable route, not too long, has good features
เส้นทางที่มีสภาพดี / สะดวกต่อการเดินทาง
first phase of the project - the first part of the
project ในระยะเริ่มต้นดำเนินการ