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  • Trans-Asian Highway

    Roadmap to Bangkok to be ready in '17
    October 10 2014

    The idea of driving down to Bangkok in a car or bus from any North Eastern State may become reality by 2017, with India signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Myanmar on opening four-lane motorways to promote trade and tourism from the North Eastern States into that country, and on to Thailand, and eventually Cambodia and Vietnam as well.

    Noting that the proposed trans-Asian highway was a very old project that had failed to take off so far, security sources told this newspaper that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was keen to operationalise a planned superhighway linking Guwahati to Bangkok via Mandalay and Yangon, Myanmar's former capital.

    The sources added that the External Affairs Ministry was also exploring the possibility of starting passenger bus services between Moreh in Manipur and Mandalay.

    New Delhi wants the bus service started as soon as possible.

    The trans-Asian highway is part of the "Mekong-India Corridor" intended to link Indian markets with China, the sources said, saying the PM had told officials to convert the "Look East Policy" into "Action East Policy" .

    The Northeast Frontier Railway was given a six-month deadline to commission tracks linking the border States to augment infrastructure development.

    The new superhighway will open up new oil and gas opportunities off the coasts of Myanmar and Vietnam, and enable easier access to Japanese products made in Thailand, the security sources said.

    The trans-Asian highway will also be connected to NH2 to facilitate an opening direct from New Delhi to Southeast Asia.

    The many stumbling blocks to the project are being cleared on a priority basis, the sources added.

    e-pao.net
    http://thailandchatter.com/showthrea...ll=1#post45112

  • #2
    Earlier Report

    India to open super highway to Burma and Thailand
    Dean Nelson
    29 May 2012

    India is to open a new four lane motorway to allow traders and tourists to drive from its eastern tea state of Assam into Burma, Thailand and eventually Cambodia and Vietnam.
    http://thailandchatter.com/showthrea...ll=1#post45112

    Comment


    • #3
      India underpinning regional transport infrastructure on one side, China on the other. Nice. It looks like our sizable neighbours will kickstart an overdue process that Thailand's own overcentralised political and bureacratic sector was never able to, or willing to. Considering that most of the existing air transport infrastructure in the NE is compliments of the US Army (and the highway & rail system a bit of a joke), Thailand might thank both it's location, and more futuristically inclined foreign friends.

      Comment


      • #4
        Why do for yourself what you can get others to do for you?

        Should be the national slogan.

        Comment


        • #5
          " It would also bring new wealth to its poor and marginalised North-Eastern states like Manipur and Nagaland, which have been blighted by local insurgencies and heavy security."

          And a road going through them will fix all that?

          Comment


          • #6
            Sure will.
            Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Wilson View Post
              " It would also bring new wealth to its poor and marginalised North-Eastern states like Manipur and Nagaland, which have been blighted by local insurgencies and heavy security."

              And a road going through them will fix all that?
              They should run a high speed rail link alongside it. Excellent competition for freight and passenger services.

              Comment


              • #8
                China Expresses Concern About Indian Border Road Plan
                SUI-LEE WEE
                Thursday, October 16, 2014


                (Photo: Reuters)

                BEIJING/NEW DELHI
                http://thailandchatter.com/showthrea...ll=1#post45112

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Mid View Post
                  If they are marching, they're making a mess of it.

                  I highly suspect they are walking.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Boosting regional connectivty

                    New highway is more than just a road for Myanmar

                    SIMON LEWIS
                    February 15, 2015


                    Traffic travels on the old Myawaddy-Kawkareik road in Myanmar's Kayin State, which is about to be replaced by the new Asian Highway.
                    (photo by Simon Lewis)

                    KAWKAREIK,
                    Myanmar -- For as long as anyone can remember, the road from Kawkareik in Kayin State to the Thai border has only been passable in one direction at a time. One day, traffic goes "up" from southern Myanmar's hinterland; the next it goes "down" from Myawaddy -- the busiest trade post on the Thai-Myanmar frontier. Myawaddy is just opposite the Thai town of Mae Sot.



                    The poor condition of the road that crosses the Dawna mountain range means the journey of just 32km -- as the crow flies -- can take more than four hours by car. But a new road now nearing completion will cut that time to less than an hour, potentially turning Myawaddy's scrappy border crossing into a major trade hub.

                    Myanmar state-run media says the new Thai-funded road is not scheduled to open officially until July. But foreign businessmen and locals who can afford the steep tolls are being allowed onto its as-yet unsealed surface.

                    The road forms part of a long-promised "Asian Highway" that will eventually connect Yangon to Bangkok. Right now it is one of the crucial links still missing in the push by Association of Southeast Asian Nations members to achieve greater connectivity across the region.

                    "I think trade will be better with the new road," said Ma Moe Moe, who runs a company trading in construction materials and other goods in Myawaddy town. During the monsoon season from May to October, the road is often completely impassable, she noted.

                    A sign contains details of new highways to run from Myanmar to India and China.
                    (photo by Philip Thornton)

                    Already booming

                    Even ahead of the road's completion, Myanmar's border trade has exploded since the country's new civilian-led government began economic reforms in 2011. According to Thai government data, the value of total annual trade through the Myawaddy-Mae Sot checkpoint rose from less than $700 million in 2011 to more than $1.9 billion last year.

                    The vast majority of that trade is Thai goods entering Myanmar, including diesel, foodstuffs, autos and construction materials. Less than 5% goes the other way, mainly agricultural and fisheries products. Thailand also imports natural gas from Myanmar through cross-border pipelines.

                    Complementing the new road are advanced plans for a second Thai-built bridge crossing the Moei River between Mae Sot and Myawaddy. The Asian Development Bank is supporting the rehabilitation and widening of another 70km stretch of the road between Kawkareik and Eindu, in Kayin State near the border.

                    Jamie Leather, the ADB's principle transport specialist, said the combined improvements "will change travel times between Myanmar and Thailand and thus make trade easier and more efficient, which in turn is likely to increase demand for travel.

                    "It is hard to predict exact levels of growth as this will depend on not just road improvements, but also infrastructure at the border and soft issues such as customs procedures," he added.

                    The new road could also make the crossing "a major gateway for travel to Myanmar," said Marcus Allender, founder of travel website Go-Myanmar.com. Mae Sot's road and air connections to the rest of Thailand, and the crossing's proximity to tourism hot spots in southern Myanmar, are bound to make it the favored route for overland visitors to the country, he said.

                    "Overland travel to Myanmar is an area of massive untapped potential, and if the Myanmar and Thai governments can agree on allowing through transport -- and subject to security concerns -- the new road could well shake up the market," said Allender.


                    Thai soldiers stand at a Myanmar border crossing.
                    photo by Philip Thornton

                    Those security concerns could be significant. Kayin State has been wracked for more than six decades by what may be the world's longest-running war. A ceasefire was signed in 2012 between the Myanmar government and the Karen National Union, but groups of armed men -- from the KNU's armed wing or a number of other pro- and anti-government militias -- still control pockets of territory around the new road.

                    In September, a spate of skirmishes broke out between armed groups around Myawaddy. In one incident, a mortar hit a rest stop on the old mountain road, killing four civilians. It is unclear who fired the rocket, but it raised fears locally that travel in the region was becoming less safe.

                    The new road is reportedly under the direct control of the Karen National Union. One Western expatriate working with a foreign company in Myanmar said he joined a convoy using the road on a business visit to Kayin State recently.

                    "There were KNU checkpoints with armed persons on the road, one at each end and a more scrutinizing one toward the middle," he said. "We received permission to travel on the road via KNU leadership."

                    Peace dividends loom

                    Myanmar's central government hopes that sharing the perks of economic growth with ethnic communities will mean that former insurgents will gain a material interest in ensuring a sustained peace.

                    "They own transport cars, so they will benefit from more trade," said Myawaddy-based businessman Wai Zaw. He warned, however, that the presence of multiple armed groups in the area could lead to volatility.

                    "If the government puts on pressure," he said, "there can easily be small fighting near the road over disputed zones."

                    asia.nikkei.com
                    http://thailandchatter.com/showthrea...ll=1#post45112

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      As I've said before.

                      High-speed transport and logistics - the way forward for Asia.

                      No good for the western "investors" - but once again - **** profit over life.

                      Exciting times in SEA - the balance of power is changing - thank fck for that.
                      Blaze it up.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I agree with the roads bringing the countries together, not high-speed rail.

                        And if anyone thinks the China-India issue will simply lie idle . . . hardly

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          As long as the road doesn't go past any forests it will be fine. Overloaded logging trucks will ruin a perfectly good road in months. Just like they do in Sumatra!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Panama Hat View Post
                            I agree with the roads bringing the countries together, not high-speed rail.
                            I prefer the opposite, high-speed rail rather than roads. I think it would be far safer, cleaner and more efficient. Good distribution hubs would need to be set up to transfer onto trucks for local delivery but studies have been carried out on this since the 70's. Moving from the narrow gauge railways to standard track but be a significant leap forwards.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Just think of all the hairpin turns and treacherous mountain passes on which Thai Somchais have yet to crash their trucks and buses. It'll be like a new level of Candy Crush. All those new, pristine levels to litter with severed body parts, shattered windshields, and burned out hulks of steel and rubber.
                              The world is their oyster .

                              Comment

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