Construction resumed in April, after worker safety was guaranteed by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who pledged to protect the workers laying the gas pipeline and building the separation plant in Chana district, where the pipeline is to come ashore.

Completion is now forecast for the first half of 2005 after originally being slated for October 2002.

Local residents along the pipeline in Thailand and environmentalists say the project will cause grave ecological damage. Last December, 2,000 villagers clashed with Thai police, injuring dozens ahead of a joint cabinet meeting between leaders of the two countries.

Malaysia's Petronas and Thai energy giant PTT are equal partners in Trans Thai Malaysia Co. (TTM), the operator of the long-delayed project.

Under the scheme the gas will come ashore in Songkhla and be distributed by pipeline to both Thailand and Malaysia.

Much of the infrastructure is already in place, including the offshore rig and pipes from the gas field towards the coast, but the new infrastructure is still awaiting a link to the mainland.

The project is part of the trans-ASEAN gas pipeline aimed at ensuring energy security for the fast growing region which is currently heavily dependent on oil from the Middle East.