Myanmar workers get their passports stamped at the immigration checkpoint next to the first Tak-Myawaddy bridge in Mae Sot district. The second bridge will be built nearby in some three years to relieve congestion. (Photo by Assawin Pinijwong)
The Transport Ministry will seek 3.9 billion baht to fund a second bridge spanning the Moei River between Tak province and Myanmar’s Myawaddy town, with a billion baht of that going for construction on the other side of the river.
Transport Minister Prajin Juntong said Thursday he ordered the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning to quickly finalise details of budget request that supports construction of the new bridge and its approaches.
He estimated the construction cost on the Thai side at 2.9 billion baht and 1 billion baht in Myanmar, which asked Thailand to pay for half of the bridge, the minister said.
The cost of the bridge alone is estimated at 800 million baht, plus 1.6 billion baht for the approaches, 1 billion baht for border checkpoint buildings and 300 million baht for land expropriation.
Initial field preparation started in Tak and the building should begin in September and finish in three years.
On the Thai side, the new bridge begins at Ban Wang Takhian Tai village in Tha Sai Luad sub-district of Mae Sot district.
It will serve a special economic zone of Tak and be part of an east-west economic corridor stretching about 700 kilometres from Tak to Mukdahan province on the border with Laos in the Northeast.
The new bridge is expected to relieve congestion on the first and two-lane Mae Sot-Myawaddy bridge that cannot serve heavy trucks.
The bridge and its approaches will be about 21 kilometres long, with a 17-kilometre section on the Thai side.
The Thai government is planning the special border economic zone in Mae Sot, Phop Phra and Mae Ramat districts of Tak.
Mae Sot-Myawaddy trade serves local business as well as Bangkok and other provinces in the North, and Myanmar traders from Yangon, 450 kilometres from Mae Sot, and as a distribution centre for cargo in Myanmar.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/transport/496470/b3-9bn-needed-for-2nd-moei-bridge
