Approval for the project could be as early as within six months, according to estimates.
The country's energy minister, Prommin Lertsuridej, has hinted that the project has received backing from "several Asian and Middle Eastern countries" but did not reveal who these backers were. He did mention, though, how important it would be to Thailand in its efforts in becoming a regional centre for energy distribution and trading. The current hub is Singapore.
"Our ambition is to exploit our geographical advantage and proximity to the market," said the minister who was in Hong Kong briefing possible investors in Thailand's privatisation of its state electricity generating company.
"The 260km pipeline, which is expected to take two years to build, [will] increase security and reduce delivery times by enabling oil tankers to bypass the strait [of Malacca]. Tankers [will] unload oil on the western side of the isthmus for transport through the pipeline to the eastern side," added Lertsuridej. Supertankers cannot navigate through the narrow strait.
What will not proceed is the ambitious plan to dig a canal that would have cut across the Isthmus ala the Panama Canal. Such a canal would cause a diplomatic furore between Thailand and its neighbours Malaysia and Singapore whose ports service the traffic that passes through the Strait of Malacca.
