Kra canal is feasible if properly planned

I thank “Look Before You Leap” for his or her suggestion that Thailand should “learn to walk” before it tries to run.

The reason Thailand has suffered from a cycle of flood and drought in the past few decades is in fact because we have “run after the farang” without first learning to walk. Kings Rama IV and Rama V built a lot of canals in the central part of the country, which helped to irrigate crops and prevent or relieve flooding. Then we abandoned our valuable canals and built a lot of roads, which block the flow of water and exacerbate the flood-drought cycle. This demonstrates that we get nothing for free – any development will cause environmental impact.

The Kra canal should be run neither by Chinese investors nor the Thai state, whose enterprises (the Airport link, Thai Airways, the State Railway) usually run at a loss. Instead it should be run by the Chinese government while Thailand takes a share of the profits. After perhaps 50 or 60 years, Thai profits should have exceeded those of the Chinese. I believe a Kra canal project is feasible, but only if the details of the plan are worked out to ensure mutual benefit for both sides.

Prasan Stianrapapongs