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s the coronavirus pandemic bites, Thailand is desperate for its US$43 billion Eastern Economic Corridor to pay off
Vijitra Duangdee
Published: 9:00am, 1 Feb, 2021
A tanker docked at Laem Chabang Port in Chonburi Province. Photo: Vijitra Duangdee
A tech hub braided with airports, ports and high-speed rail lines to lure the brains and billions of Asia to
Thailand
– or a cripplingly expensive white elephant from a government struggling to reset Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy? Nearly four years after its inception, opinion is divided on the country’s US$43 billion Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
The project, which promises an investor’s paradise of green smart cities and tax-free industrial zones powered by 5G technology, is Thailand’s most ambitious investment scheme. Driven by the government and its big-business allies such as energy giant PTT and the CP Group conglomerate, the vision for the EEC is to pull companies and technology from China, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore to the kingdom’s eastern coast on the Gulf of Thailand, transforming it into the gateway to the vast Southeast Asian market.
Electric cars, robots and fruit will spill out from its transport points, according to the EEC’s glossy marketing literature, while high-end visitors seeking medical and wellness tourism will pour in as scruffy cities are transformed into green oases.
- Four years after its launch, opinion is divided as to whether the EEC will become a tech hub that lures the brains and billions of Asia – or a cripplingly expensive white elephant
- With the kingdom’s economy hammered by Covid-19, PM Prayuth needs a win, but a lack of transparency has left locals worried they will miss out on benefits from the project
Vijitra Duangdee
Published: 9:00am, 1 Feb, 2021
A tanker docked at Laem Chabang Port in Chonburi Province. Photo: Vijitra Duangdee
A tech hub braided with airports, ports and high-speed rail lines to lure the brains and billions of Asia to
Thailand
– or a cripplingly expensive white elephant from a government struggling to reset Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy? Nearly four years after its inception, opinion is divided on the country’s US$43 billion Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
The project, which promises an investor’s paradise of green smart cities and tax-free industrial zones powered by 5G technology, is Thailand’s most ambitious investment scheme. Driven by the government and its big-business allies such as energy giant PTT and the CP Group conglomerate, the vision for the EEC is to pull companies and technology from China, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore to the kingdom’s eastern coast on the Gulf of Thailand, transforming it into the gateway to the vast Southeast Asian market.
Electric cars, robots and fruit will spill out from its transport points, according to the EEC’s glossy marketing literature, while high-end visitors seeking medical and wellness tourism will pour in as scruffy cities are transformed into green oases.
