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THAI-BURMESE BORDER / WESTERN SEABO



THAI-BURMESE BORDER / WESTERN SEABOARD MEGAPROJECT

Traders to awaken sleepy village
Plan to turn Ban Bong Tee in Kanchanaburi into a bustling commercial border
pass

Preecha Srisathan 
Local businessmen have been lobbying hard to realise their dream of turning
the sleepy village of Ban Bong Tee in Kanchanaburi into a bustling
commercial border pass as part of the Western Seaboard mega-project.
An active Karen community of 500, the village bordering Burma is opening up
to the world under a joint trade agreement secured at the request of the
Burmese government.
With the green light from Rangoon, the winds of change are blowing in Ban
Bong Tee's direction. The village will provide the region with a new
passage for trade and tourism to the Andaman Sea.
Thai businesses reportedly resorted to heavy lobbying in order to
materialise the Bong Tee plan backed by the National Economic and Social
Development Board.
Bong Tee will gain the status of a temporary border pass functioning as the
"thrust" of the Western Seaboard project.
The seaboard encompassing six provinces - Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi,
Phetchaburi, Samut Songkhram, Prachuap Khiri Khan, and Chumphon - will help
accelerate industrial, agricultural, commercial and tourism development in
Southeast Asia, the Indian sub-continent, as well as Asia-Pacific countries.
The plan, however, is impossible without a 110-kilometre road to be built
connecting Bong Tee with a deep-sea port in Tavoy, south of Burma.
The port facilities are designed to serve large freighters weighing over
200 billion metric tons.
A study by the NESDB has found that the port will shorten the sea transport
route from Thailand to Europe by up to six days and thus save over 30
percent on delivery cost.
Current routes originating from Gulf of Thailand ports must go around
peninsula Malaysia.
Goods unloaded at Tavoy port will be transported on the Tavoy-Ban Bong Tee
road to be hooked up with a network of highways to Vietnam and Cambodia.
Thailand also stands to benefit from the road as it offers a more direct
alternative into Burma than those originating from Tak's Mae Sot district
and Ranong.
Designated within the seaboard area are the Tavoy sea port and three main
industrial estates: Tha Muang, Kanchanaburi, to accommodate heavy
industries; Bong Tee, for smaller industries using local labour; and Tavoy,
for the continuing phase of the production.
Apart from its economic potential, Bong Tee also has historical
significance for being an old trade route. It also lies on a path which
leads to ancient battle sites.
The village is a stone's throw from the Burmese border with the Tenasserim
mountain range as the natural demarcation.
Bong Tee comprises the small villages of Ban Bong Tee Bon and Ban Tai
Muang. Over 80 percent of the population are Karens who make a living by
farming.
Traditionally, the trade exchanges through Ban Bong Tee were mostly logs,
livestock, and daily necessities. But ironically, the village was not
recognised by authorities of the two countries as an official commercial
channel.
The reason Bong Tee is to be established as a proper border pass is mainly
because of its geographical advantage. It is 27 kilometres from the nearest
Sai Yok district and only 5.2 kilometres from the border.
The point at Hin Kong in neighbouring Thong Phaphum district which
authorities first thought could rival Ban Bong Tee was deemed "unfit" by
Rangoon which fears a sabotage attempt against the Yadana gas pipeline laid
in the area.
It would also be costly building a road in Thong Phaphum because of the
district's rugged terrain and mountains.
Another option which is to develop the Three-Pagoda Pass was ruled out for
the reason that parts of the border lacked a clear division and were prone
to attack by anti-Rangoon Mon guerrillas.
Bong Tee will have the necessary administrative centres such as the customs
unit, and the livestock quarantine house to be constructed on 500 rai of
public land.
Some 50 million baht from the central fund is to be distributed for
infrastructure development.