BANGKOK: The Rural Roads Department has completed the first of four phases of the 950-kilometre-long Thailand Riviera project, which spans 12 provinces from Samut Prakan to Narathiwat.
Montri Dechasakulsom, director-general of the Rural Roads Department, said the 515km first phase running along the sea from Samut Sakhon to Phetchaburi and in Prachuap Khiri Khan, Ranong and Chumphon has been completed and opened to traffic.
All in all, the Thailand Rivera will be 950km long connecting the shore of the Gulf of Thailand from the southeast of Bangkok in Samut Prakan to Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram, Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla, Pattani and Narathiwat.
In Chumphon, there will be a link to a seaside road in Ranong along the Andaman Sea as well.
Due to geography and issues of ownership, the roads along the sea cannot run uninterrupted and will have to be split up and linked to other roads.
Montri said the department is in the process of surveying and designing the second phase of the Riviera, which will cover 150km from Chumphon to Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Songkhla.
He said the department was preparing an environmental impact report and will seek funding from the Cabinet soon.
The second phase will involve expanding 25 existing and adjacent rural roads and improving the footpaths along 41 nearby roads.
For the third phase, he said, the department will seek 4 billion baht to build an 85km-long road along the sea linking Samut Prakan to Samut Sakhon and Samut Songkhram. Montri said the department is in the process of designing the road and studying its environmental impact.
The department reckons the feasibility study for the fourth phase would cost about 33 million baht, and believes it can come from the fiscal 2025 or 2026 budgets, Montri said.
The fourth phase will involve a 200km seaside road running from Songkhla to Pattani and Narathiwat in the deep South. - The Nation/ANN
