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Published on April 18, 2008

Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul

The Nation

Although the petrochemical complex in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estates is the largest complex in the region, most of the area has already been reserved by existing plants.

Hence, it is necessary for the government to look for a new area to handle other expansion projects in the fourth-wave petrochemical industry,as well as other industries such as steel and electronics.

"If the government understands that the petrochemical industry is extremely important for the country, it needs to accelerate developing a new area for the expansion of petrochemical plants," Kan said.

Due partly to a lack of proper location, German chemical giant Cologne-based Lanxess has picked Singapore over Thailand as the site of a US$575 million (Bt18 billion) plant.

Chairman Axel Heitmann told The Straits Times that Singapore's "excellent infrastructure, abundant raw materials supply, highly qualified and educated workforce, and strong intellectual property protection laws" were behind its decision to locate the plant in Singapore.

Deputy Prime Minister Suwit Khunkitti said the Board of Investment (BoI) and the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) were working hard to find the most appropriate location to support further investment in base industries, particularly petrochemical and upstream steel blast furnaces.

A feasibility study on the southern development has been conducted in Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Pattani.

 "The tougher the global competition is, the sooner we should complete the Southern Sea-board. So we're giving absolute importance to this project and expect to complete the feasibility study this year," said Suwit.

The BoI would also like to complete the study after four leading steel makers expressed interest in setting up premium steel blast furnaces.