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| Map of possible Thai Canal (Image: Wiki Commons) |
A deputy prime minister of Thailand has denied reports that Bangkok and Beijing have reached an agreement to develop the Thai Canal across the Kra isthmus, calling the project "stupid" and revealing that the country is now contemplating an oil pipeline that will not require consultation with China, reports Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao.
Pridiyathorn Devakula, deputy prime minister for the economy, made the comments during a visit to Hong Kong last week. He said the proposed Thai Canal through the Kra isthmus of southern Thailand, which would allow ships to bypass the busy Strait of Malacca and save 1,200 kilometers of travel — about a day and a half to several days — for ships heading east to west, is no longer being considered by Bangkok.
"We won't be that stupid," he said of the canal first proposed as early as the 17th century, adding they will instead build a "faster and cheaper" 300-km-long oil pipeline connecting Satun province on the Andaman Sea with Song Khla province on the Gulf of Thailand.
Read the full story at Want China Times