Dawei port go-ahead
Thailand and Burma have signalled they will press on with joint development of the Dawei deep-sea port on Burmas Andaman Sea coast, according to official reports.
Thailand’s Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva and his Burmese counterpart, strongman Thein Sein, discussed it in the context of a bilateral summit which covered a number of issues of political and economic cooperation.
Dawei is linked to a broader push for infrastructure development, developing industrial zones for job creation and expanding the trade relationship between the two, a number of Thai government websites have said. Acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said Thailand also planned to develop a rail and road route linking Kanchanaburi in Western Thialand with Dawei, formerly known as Tavoy.
If the plan goes ahead it could reconfigure shipping patterns opening up large markets in South Asian countries such as India and Bangladesh and ending the need for goods shipped out of Thailand’s Laem Chabang port, which are going west, to detour via Singapore and the Malacca Straits.