Phiphat unveils roadmap to make Thailand a logistics hub, linking 50% of the world's population
MacroIndustry
Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn has unveiled a roadmap to elevate Thailand into a regional transport and logistics hub, connecting nearly 50% of the world's population through road, rail, water and air networks. On roads, the government is pushing ahead with the M82 elevated highway between Bang Khun Thian and Ban Phaeo, expected to open by late 2026 and link up with the expressway in September 2027. Meanwhile, the M8 motorway from Nakhon Pathom to Pak Tho to Pran Buri, on the roughly 70-kilometre Nakhon Pathom–Pak Tho section, will enter procurement in 2027, while the roughly 115-kilometre Pak Tho–Pran Buri section is under study and land expropriation. On rail, the Den Chai–Chiang Khong route is expected to be completed in 2028, and the route linking to Laos at Nong Khai in 2029. A mobile cabinet meeting approved the extension of double-track railways southward in three sections totalling more than 500 kilometres: Chumphon–Surat Thani, Surat Thani–Hat Yai and Hat Yai–Padang Besar, with procurement to begin in 2027. On the Andaman side, the government is advancing the Missing Link concept, studying deep-sea ports covering six coastal provinces from Ranong to Satun, after assessing that in the next 10 years cargo volumes bound for the Indian Ocean will rise to no less than 10 million containers per year, up from at least 3 million containers per year currently transshipped in Singapore and about 400,000 containers per year through Penang port. At the same time, talks are under way with Yacht Club de Monaco to draw superyachts from Europe to tour the Andaman coast during the tourism season.
