1. The EEC is part of the government's strategy to move Thailand towards a high-tech economy.
2. The area spans a combined 30,000 rai of land in the provinces of Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao to accommodate investments in targeted industries, focusing largely on advanced technology.
LAEM CHABANG PORT
1. A local unit of Hong Kong's CK Hutchison Holdings has been taking some big steps to put the Thai province of Chonburi in position to reap the benefits of at least three free trade zones.
2. In 2019, Hutchison Ports Thailand opened Terminal D, a state-of-the-art facility, at Laem Chabang Port, north of the resort city of Pattaya.
3. Laem Chabang, already Thailand's biggest port, is also in line for an 88 billion baht ($2.78 billion) infusion from the Thai government, which is keen to make the berthing spot a core piece of a grand economic project known as the Eastern Economic Corridor.
4. The port lays southeast of Bangkok, along the Gulf of Thailand, an area that the Thai government envisions as a crossroads for trade throughout the Mekong Delta region.
5. Many of Thailand's ports are shallow. But Terminal D, with a depth of 16 meters, makes Laem Chabang a deep-water port and allows for larger vessels to be received. Montri Rerkjamnien, director of Laem Chabang Port, said the port can now accept large container vessels that have so far relied on Singapore and Hong Kong, among the world's biggest ports, as pickup and drop-off spots in Asia.
6. Thailand hopes the Eastern Economic Corridor does more than increase imports and exports. It is also counting on the EEC to attract multinational auto and electronics companies as well as other big manufacturers.
7. Other EEC projects include an upgrade to U-Tapao Airport, south of Pattaya in Rayong Province, and a high-speed rail linking U-Tapao and two Bangkok airports, Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi.
8. When the project is completed, the berth's length will be 1,700 meters, up from 400 meters at present, and the terminal will be able to handle 3.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, of cargo.This will help the port as a whole increase its cargo handling capacity by 37%, to 13 million TEUs.
9. The Thai government expects the added capacity to be soaked up by increased demand from an expanded ASEAN Economic Community, a free trade zone that was fully implemented last year. Furthermore, Thailand is looking to join other free trade groupings -- the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
10. According to estimates by German consultancy Roland Berger, Thailand's container handling volume will rise 35% to 9.2 million TEUs in 2020 and by more than twofold to 14.9 million TEUs in 2030, compared with 2015 levels.
MAP TA-PHUT LNG TERMINAL
1. In 2019, According to the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT), the government’s investment partnership with the Gulf MPT LNG Terminal Company will bring more investment to the industrial east and boost economic growth. The commercial operation of the project is scheduled to start by 2025.
2. Gulf MPT is a joint venture between a unit of Gulf Energy with a 70 percent stake and a unit of PTT with a 30 percent stake.
3. The Map Ta Phut project will include the design and construction of the port and an LNG terminal that will have an annual capacity of at least 5 million metric tons per year in the first phase and up to 10.8 million tons per year at a later stage.
MAP TA PHUT INDUSTRIAL PORT DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PHASE III
1. IN 2020, CHEC won the tender for the infrastructure EPC project of Map Ta Phut Industrial Port Development Project Phase III in Thailand construction which will last 36 months and a warranty of 24 months.
2. The project is an infrastructure EPC project for the first phase of theMap Ta Phut Industrial Port Development Project Phase III PPP Project, owned by Gulf Map Ta Phut Natural Gas Port Co. Ltd.
3. The project includes dredging of the 16m-deep waterway, dredging of the ship turning areas over 700m in diameter, dredging of about 160 hectares of new port areas, approximately 5,410 metres of a revetment with a length of approximately 5410m and a breakwater with a length of approximately 1,627m, as well as related works such as service docks and public facilities.
4. The project is one of the top projects in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Development Plan of Thailand, which aims to ameliorate the situation of energy supply in the region and laying thefoundation for the future development of the petrochemical park.
Source：
https://www.offshore-energy.biz/thai-government-invests-in-map-ta-phut-lng-terminal-construction/
https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Thailand-doubles-down-on-biggest-port-as-free-trade-hub
