New road to link ‘Thai Riviera’

The Transport Ministry will expand a road under the so-called “Thai Riviera” development project to link the Chao Phraya River with the Kolok River which borders Malaysia.

Kritthep Simli, director-general of the Department of Rural Roads, said yesterday the department planned to seek a budget to expand the northern and southern sections of the coastal road to link the two historic rivers and boost tourism.

Under the plan, a 100km section — Samut Prakan’s Pak Nam-Samut Sakhon-Khlong Khon — will be added to the north of the coastal road while another 300km section — SongkhlaSungai Kolok — will be added to its south, creating a scenic route from Bangkok to the Thai-Malaysian border, said the department chief.

Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob has assigned the department to develop routes and improve rural roads using rubber resources, which will also help improve the livelihoods of rubber plantation owners, said Mr Kritthep.

The department has set a target to use 6,000 tonnes of rubber for road construction and has sought a budget of 58 billion baht for road development for the 2020 fiscal year.

The Thailand Riviera project has two phases. The first phase, covering 683km and running from Samut Songkhram to Chumphon, is 40% done, with 265km completed at a cost of 2.25 billion baht. Another 24km section, costing 407 million baht, is being built.

In the 2019 fiscal year, the department received a budget of 510 million baht to build another 48km in this phase. It plans to seek 1.96 billion baht between 2020-22 for another 176km.

The second phase, covering 578km, runs from Lamae district of Chumphon to Songkhla’s Thepa district.

The section required an investment of more than 5 billion baht and construction is scheduled to begin in 2022.