Motorway to Malaysia bids to kick off next year

62km project tipped to cost B57 billion

The Transport Ministry plans to call bids early next year for the construction of a 62-kilometre motorway to the Malaysian border in Songkhla province.

The motorway, estimated to cost about 57 billion baht, will stretch from an intersection at the Phetkasem Highway in Bang Klam district to the border checkpoint in Sadao district.

It will connect to Hat Yai airport and southern industrial parks.

The ministry held a meeting yesterday to gather opinions from the private sector on the project. The contractor will get a 30-year concession for the motorway’s operation.

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said yesterday it would improve traffic flow to the lower South.

Mr Arkhom planned to propose the project to the cabinet late this year.

If approved, construction could begin next year, with completion around 2022 or 2023.

He said the 57-billion-baht budget will be allotted in two parts: 37.3 billion baht for construction and 19.6 billion baht for management and maintenance costs.

Of the former chunk, 27.4 billion baht will be disbursed for motorway infrastructure, 6.9 billion baht for land expropriation, 2.8 billion baht for the motorway system, and 145 million baht for initial investment.

Another 12.4 billion baht will cover maintenance costs and there is 7.1 billion baht available for management costs.

Mr Arkhom said income would come from motorway tolls, which will cost motorists 88 baht in total throughout the route.

Another source of revenue will come from fees from commercial areas covering 119.5 rai along both sides of the motorway.

The minister said traffic was predicted to hit 20,910 vehicles a day in 2024, which would generate 478 million baht income a year. The number of vehicles will rise to 46,050 in 2053, bringing in 2.1 billion baht.

Over 30 years, the motorway is expected to generate 41.7 billion baht in revenue.

Investment in the motorway will be conducted under a net-cost public-private partnership scheme in which the private sector will bear the risk of investment.

A design of the motorway, funding, construction, management and maintenance will be supervised by the concessionaire.

Mr Arkhom said the motorway will boost the economy in the southern region, particularly the Sadao and Padang Besar border checkpoints in a special economic zone along the Thai-Malaysian border.

Both checkpoints have a commercial value of nearly 320 billion baht a year.

The new motorway will cut logistics costs and shorten travel time from 90 to 60 minutes. Along the route, there are four toll collection checkpoints and one rest area, he said.

In another development, the Bangkok Port yesterday launched Berth 20G, a 25m pier which is able to accommodate up to three freight vessels simultaneously or about 2,500 crafts a year.

The berth can also handle more than 60 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per trip or 240,000 TEUs a year.

The pier is also equipped with two cranes which are able to handle freight containers weighing up to 40 tonnes. The berth is expected to service 100,000 freight containers during the first year of its operation, after which traffic is tipped to rise.