อนุทิน 174354

ชีวิต ในปี 2567 (10)

(A new series on life issues in this year) Example 10: megaprojects or Conflicts of Interest

We are currently showered with stories of Tailand’s megaprojects (such as Digital Wallet Giveaway, Ranong-Chumpon Landbridge, ‘to be number One rice-exporter’, Muay Thai softpower,…). All projects seem to need ‘large investment’ to [kick]start. A few projects ‘loans’ that will be eroding Thailand’s ability to pay for new initiatives or [emergent] needs for many generations. Digital Wallet Giveaway and Landbridge projects are of course the top talks of the town.

The reasons for these megaprojects being controversial are that benefits or return of investment are clearly not certain or worth the certain debts (large and long term loans commitments). [Current 2024] Government fails time and time again to give solid evidence of the ‘return for investment’ (of Taxpayers money). Only solid evidence that we have is that we and our children ‘will have to pay the debts’.

Many megaprojects (Thailand had initiated/participated) have or are filing for ‘geopolitical’ reasons. Take the Dawei Deep Sea Port project in Myanmar (started 2005 and faltering 2010) with support from China and Thailand (both were hoping to extend ‘business’ into the Indian Ocean Rim). Today, Thailand had finished the links from Bang Yai (Nakon Pathom)-Kanchanaburi-Nam Phu Ron (on the border). Ital-Thai construction had completed[?] a usable (mostly unsealed) road from Nam Phu Ron to Dawei. China had a rail link from Dawei to Pagan and beyond (aimed to link all the way back to China.

This illustrates ‘the waste’ of investment in megaprojects that Thailand is repeating.

[NB. Australia is building a deep sea port for $250M; Nigeria is building Lekki deep sea port for $1.5B; Thailand to build 2 deep sea ports and rail+road links for $33.8B; – perhaps the price is not right.]