Thailand to speed up dozens of infrastructure development projects

BANGKOK, Nov 3 (TNA) -- Thailand is poised to speed up dozens of infrastructure development projects across the county including the government’s mega development Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). Somkid Jatusripitak, Deputy Prime Minister for economy, visited Transport Ministry on Thursday to inspect progress of 51 transport infrastructure development projects in the pipeline. He stressed that tender calls for other infrastructure projects in EEC which included a high-speed railway, deep sea port, airport, Internet network and other projects must be expedited; biddings for all EEC-related projects should be complete within the first quarter of 2018. Mr Somkid stated earlier that Bt2.4 trillion worth of infrastructure projects planned for the next several years could be called within the tenure of the current government. A general election is expected next year, possibly in November according to the military junta’s roadmap for democracy. Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said there were 51 investment projects under his ministry between 2016-2018, with eight new project worth over Bt100 billion next year. (TNA)