Thailand courts Singapore for ‘land bridge’ to rival Malacca Strait amid Hormuz crisis
A satellite image shows a fleet of small boats at sea north of the Strait of Hormuz near the Kargan coast in Iran on April 22, 2026. — Reuters pic
Wednesday, 29 Apr 2026 10:18 AM MYT
BANGKOK, April 29 — The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has given Thailand impetus to advance a longstanding plan to create a logistics link between the Indian and Pacific oceans, with its government on Monday seeking to court Singapore as a potential investor.
Thailand’s government has said it is reviving a “Land Bridge” project across its narrow southern peninsula after recent disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz underscored the vulnerability of global shipping choke-points, including the nearby Malacca Strait.
The previous administration drafted a law for the Land Bridge but the proposal fell by the wayside during a bout of political turbulence, with public hearings and environmental and health impact assessments incomplete and some resistance from residents.
A proposal is expected to be submitted to cabinet in June or July and the government would seek investors for the estimated ฿1 trillion baht (RM121 billion) project, potentially starting in the third quarter, Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said at the weekend.
Alternative route
A decades-old idea, the Land Bridge envisions two deep-sea ports, one in Ranong on the Andaman Sea and another in Chumphon on the Gulf of Thailand, linked by 90 km of road and rail plus energy infrastructure like pipelines.
The project would offer an alternative route to the Malacca Strait, the 900-km long channel bounded by Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, which provides the shortest sea route from East Asia to the Middle East and Europe.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul outlined the plan during a meeting on Monday with Chan Chun Sing, the defence minister of Singapore, a big regional investor that sits at the end of the Malacca Strait, through which more than 100,000 mostly commercial ships passed last year.
“He sees it as an economic opportunity for Thailand and for foreign investors, if the project can be successfully pushed forward,” Thai government spokesperson Rachada Dhanadirek said, referring to Chan, adding he expressed interest in the plan.
Indonesia’s finance minister last week caused a stir by openly musing about ways countries could impose tolls on ships as a way to monetise the Malacca Strait, before saying that would not be possible and leading to several subsequent clarifications.
The Land Bridge is regarded as more viable than the “Kra Canal”, a centuries-old idea to cut a shipping passage across southern Thailand, which met resistence due to environmental, financial and security concerns. — Reuters
BullyXi tries to copy 47. “Blockades” Panama Canal…..ha3
ReplyDelete🚨🇺🇸🇨🇳 The U.S. and five Latin American nations just issued a rare joint statement against Chinese pressure on Panama...
Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States released a coordinated declaration calling out China's "targeted economic pressure" and recent actions affecting Panama-flagged vessels.
The statement frames it as a sovereignty issue and pledges hemispheric solidarity with Panama.
The trigger is the Panama Supreme Court ruling on the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals, two of the most strategically critical port facilities at either end of the Panama Canal.
China is reportedly retaliating against Panama through commercial pressure on Panama-flagged shipping, which carries a huge share of global trade.
The strategic context is much bigger than Panama.
The U.S. has been quietly assembling a coalition to push back on Chinese influence in Latin America for over a year.
Today's statement formalizes that effort with a specific, named adversary and a specific, named flashpoint.
Bolivia signing on is the most surprising piece.
Bolivia has tilted toward Beijing for years on lithium and infrastructure deals.
Their inclusion suggests Washington is making real progress reasserting hemispheric coordination.
The Panama Canal control question has been a Trump fixation since his first term.
China's grip on the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals has been the subtext of every Trump statement about "taking back" the canal.
Today's joint declaration is the diplomatic version of that posture, and it has six countries publicly behind it.
The Iran war exposed how stretched American military capacity is.
The Cuba and Panama moves this week show the administration isn't waiting to recover.
The chokepoint strategy that controls global trade is being asserted everywhere at once, from Hormuz to Malacca to the Caribbean to Central America.
Trump is playing the geopolitical version of speed chess on multiple boards simultaneously.
https://x.com/marionawfal/status/2049268655226290338?s=46&t=8K6fzabO3g6uaj4KxwSSjg
Wakakakak… proxy war game!
DeleteAin't finished yet - who has the stamina to last the game?
Those proxies r just cannon folders.