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To Bypass Malacca Strait by Kra Canal in Thailand
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MARITIME INSIGHT
Volume 2, Issue 1, Spring 2014
To Bypass Malacca Strait by Kra Canal in Thailand
According to Global Times (March 14, 2014), the Thai Canal preparation work has been
started recently with a centre for preparing the construction of the 100-kilometer-long canal
being set up. The work team is formed by Chinese construction enterprises.
Kra Isthmus Canal’s future is actually not in Thai hands: interests-related countries would all
contribute their capital as well as political leverage in bringing this old idea into reality.
The Strait of Malacca is the doorway to the Indian Ocean from the broader Asia-Pacific
region and enables the transport of water-borne crude delivery and other strategic resources to
East Asia’s many ports, from Manila to Tokyo.
China Daily Mail (March 16, 2014) stated that the trade route to the Indian Ocean through the
Malacca Straits has the problems of pirates, shipwrecks, haze, sediment and shoals. It has
twice rate of accidents as the Suez Canal and it is four times higher than the Panama Canal.
As such, the proposal to build a passageway through southern Thailand as an alternative
international shipping route to the Strait of Malacca has been recently brought back to the
table. The proposed canal would significantly cut the shipping distance from eastern Asia via
the Suez Cannal to Europe, according to Executive Intelligence Review (October 11, 2013).
The traffic of the Straits of Malacca has been increasing at an annual rate of 20%. The Straits
is very busy with an estimated one fifth of world trade going through it, which causes
congestion and increases the cost of trade in the end. Thus it’s not surprising that the idea of a
canal through the Kra Isthmus in Thailand has been a topic of interest for seafarers, traders,
and geostrategists since roughly the late 17th century.
Were the Kra Canal to be build, some countries around the Strait of Malacca would suffer
somewhat even though the Straits will always be strategically significant for trade. With
regards to the consequences of constructing the Kra Canal, here we provide some
speculations made in several media reports.
The Diplomat (December 01, 2013) is concerned that the Thai Canal (Kra Canal) would
deeply transform the strategic and economic landscape of the Asia-Pacific region. While
Malaysia and Singapore would suffer, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam would benefit
greatly from the Kra Canal. However, the project would be an opportunity and platform for
Southeast Asian countries to conduct mutually beneficial trade cooperation. Politically, India,
Japan and China should be interested in developing such a canal since they would contribute
capital and political leverage in putting this old idea into practice.
The Nation (December 6, 2013) states that it is an inspiration to cut a channel through
southern Thailand and it could change the political and economic landscape of the whole
region. We just cannot help thinking that the Kra Canal, is it a dream or one step closer
to reality now?
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