The proposed Kra canal

The proposed Kra canal will help ships in the region to shorten navigational distance without having to go around Malay Peninsula via the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.  Many have shown interest to invest in Kra Canal, also known as the Thai Canal. While countries including India, US, Australian and China have shown interest, the future of the canal is still uncertain.  

Right now, the future of the proposed Kra Canal, or Thai Canal is still uncertain. Assuming that the fate of the canal will begin soon let’s look at its features of the canal.    

The Canal has approximately 50 km long waterway across the Kra Isthmus. And will be wide enough for 2 ships to pass at the same time with 400m width. The depth of the canal would be 25m. The canal will take 5 to 10 years to complete. It also will require a work force of 30,000 employees and will cost estimated $20 billion.

Furthermore, the canal will also shorten navigation distance throughout Southeast Asia by 1,200 nm. Which will save the voyage by two to five days. It will also allow ships between Europe, Middle East, India and China without crossing Singapore and Malacca strait. Thus it will also reduce the traffic of Straits of Malacca and Singapore. It will also leads to development of more ports in the region.

During British colonial rule in 1860, a proposal was mooted to construct a shipping canal through the strait between India and Srilanka.  The Indian Government approved the construction of the canal in 2001. It was later disputed that the building a canal might cause environmental damages however in 2004 the claim was ruled out.

More in-depth researches and assessments are still needed to be conducted to build the proposed Kra canal.