Satun deep-sea port in the pipeline
The government is considering spending Bt10 billion on building a large deep-sea port in the southern province of Satun in the next two years, to boost Thailand's logistics growth, Commerce Minister Krirk-krai Jirapaet said yesterday.
The ministry will discuss the plan with the Transport Ministry. A port at Pak Bara in Satun was proposed by the ousted Thaksin government, but it was never decided whether to build a small or a large one. Krirk-krai said he saw an opportunity to build a large port so that it would improve logistics and relieve traffic at Laem Chabang deep-sea port in Chon Buri. Separately, he said the government had not yet decided whether to sign the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (Jtepa). He said it was up to the Japanese government and Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont. However, despite protests from non-government organisations, Krirk-krai argued the government would not see any harmful effects if it decided to ink the deal. Krirk-krai is planning to visit Shanghai municipality and Guangdong province in China this week, in a bid to promote exports of jewellery, fruits and rice to China. Surayud and he are due to visit Japan together early next month. Meanwhile, the ministry has signed contracts with Ghana to sell 100,000 tonnes of jasmine rice and 400,000 tonnes of parboiled rice. The African country is one of the Kingdom's major buyers.
Petchanet Pratruangkrai The Nation
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