Navy ports to put wind in EEC’s sails
The Royal Thai Navy is set to invest combined 2.04 billion baht on 13 development projects, including ferry ports and related facilities, to accommodate the muchtouted Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
Nathporn Chatusripitak, an adviser to Prime Minister’s Office Minister Suvit Maesincee, said the projects will include two quays for ferries and cruise liners, a ferry terminal, multimodal transport and a business area covering 20,000 square metres at Chuk Samet, Sattahip in Chon Buri province.
The development projects will link to land transport routes and U-tapao airport as part of the government’s ambitious plan to upgrade eastern provinces to become a logistics hub for the region.
The routes are also designated to support the tourism industry in the region and enhance goods transportation to other ports.
Sattahip commercial port is one of Thailand’s deep-water ports and is home to the largest naval base for the Royal Thai Navy and its only aircraft carrier. The Royal Thai Navy’s commercial port has six quays, covering 20,000 square metres. Three quays are dedicated to the Royal Thai Navy’s warships and the remaining quays are used for the transport of goods.
According to the port upgrade plan, the Royal Thai Navy intends to upgrade the latter three to accommodate ferries and cruise ships and increase their capacity to handle goods.
Of the total 2.04 billion baht investment budget, 642 million will be at the Royal Thai Navy’s expense and the remaining 1.39 billion will be paid for through government budget under fiscal 2018-19.
Mr Nathporn said two ferry ports worth 198 million baht will be developed at the sixth quay to handle 4,000 passengers a day. Construction will be implemented in August and scheduled for completion in 2019.
The remaining port will be developed to serve ferry services from Sattahip via Pranburi to Hua Hin, which reduce the commute to 90 minutes from the 6-7 hours journey by road; from Sattahip via Koh Chang to Sihanoukville and Ho Chi Minh City, and from Sattahip to Koh Samui and Singapore.
The ferry terminal is scheduled to be completed by early 2017, with an investment of 130 million baht.
Mr Nathporn said the Royal Thai Navy will also upgrade existing oil jetty capacity to support large cruises. The investment will help support marine tourism, as promoted by the government.
Other projects included the construction of a breakwater, business area, multimodal transportation, and the expansion of four-lane road linking Chuk Samet to the double-track rail network and U-tapao airport.
The Pattaya-Map Ta Phut motorway will be also built to link U-tapao airport, he said.
Once the U-tapao airport’s upgrade plan is completed, visitors will be given an alternative route to fly to U-tapao airport and travel in Pattaya or take the high-speed rail from U-tapao to travel in Bangkok.
The EEC policy committee, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, early this month approved an 8-billion-baht investment budget for a second runway at U-tapao airport. The outlay will come from the central budget of fiscal 2018.
The second runway is expected to be operational in three years.
The government will also allow a publicprivate partnership (ppp) for the airport’s second terminal.
The terminal is scheduled to be finished in five years, increasing capacity at the airport to 15 million passengers, up from 3 million.
After raising U-tapao airport’s capacity to 15 million passengers in the first phase, the second phase calls for servicing 30 million passengers in 10 years. The final stage is to handle 60 million passengers in 20 years. The development is forecast to require 200 billion baht.
U-tapao airport development is the first infrastructure project the government wants to open for bidding this year.
Other fast-track projects are the Bangkok-Rayong high-speed rail project, worth 158 billion baht, expected to open for bidding this year under the PPP scheme; the 88-billion-baht third phase of the Laem Chabang deep-sea port; and the 64.3- billion-baht double-track rail link between the three deep-sea ports of Bangkok, Laem Chabang and Map Ta Phut.