GATEWAY OR SPEED-BUMP? NORTHERN THAILAND AND THE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CHIANG MAI 000166 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD ECON PREL CH TH SUBJECT: GATEWAY OR SPEED-BUMP? NORTHERN THAILAND AND THE KUNMING-BANGKOK CORRIDOR REF: 06 CHIANG MAI 217 - PROSPECTS OF INCREASED CHINA TRADE BRING BOTH ANTICIPATION AND FEAR CHIANG MAI 00000166 001.2 OF 003 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. The Greater Mekong Subregion's North-South Corridor links southern China to Bangkok and foreign markets further afield. The route passes through northern Thailand, which aspires to be inner China's "golden gateway" and thereby develop its transportation and logistics sectors and expand its trade and tourism income. Business and government officials along Thailand's northern border are skeptical, however. In their view, high overland transportation costs and the predominance of agricultural (vice manufactured) exports coming out of southern China could relegate northern Thailand to mere speed-bump status on the global trade highway. End Summary. -------------- -------------- The Mekong is China's "Gift from God" -------------- -------------- ¶2. Econoff and EconLES recently traveled to Chiang Rai province's border cities of Chiang Saen, Chiang Khong and Mae Sai to examine trade flows between northern Thailand and southern China (via transit through Laos or Burma). We found that, despite recent and large-scale investment in bridges and highways that connect China's Yunnan province to northern Thailand, the Mekong River remains the primary mode of trade in this region. Over 90% of goods traded along the North-South Corridor flow down the Mekong River from Yunnan, then along the Laos-Burma border, before being off-loaded in the river port city of Chiang Saen. Currently, Chiang Saen houses one public port, which receives about half of the Mekong River trade, and 12 private ports, which collectively receive the other half. ¶3. Eighty to 90% of Thailand's imports through Chiang Saen are Chinese agricultural goods, including fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers, most of which are destined for markets in Bangkok. According to Chiang Saen Port Manager Paiboon Photidee, the Mekong is a "gift from God" for the Chinese because its naturally low temperatures allow them to ship these perishable goods by day from Gaun Lei port in Yunnan to Chiang Saen, a 12-hour trip. The goods are then transferred to trucks and driven overnight for another 12 hours to the Talad Tai wholesale market in Bangkok. Thus in less than 24 hours, southern China's agricultural exports move from Yunnan to Bangkok's markets. ¶4. The capacity of the Chiang Saen public port has expanded in recent years to accommodate ships 130-feet long weighing 300 tons. In addition, Chiang Saen is expecting a second public port to be built and ready for use by 2011, though the 1.97 billion baht ($57.9 million) budget is still pending in the Marine Department, according to Water Transportation Office Chief Apisit Kampiro. Long-term plans developed by the former Thaksin government envision eleven ports for commercial boats and four service ports by 2018, as well as an additional eight container ports in a second phase that begins in 2019. -------------- -------------- -------------- The Road Less Traveled: R3B Highway Via Burma -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶5. Along the western edge of the North-South Corridor, the R3B highway connects Yunnan province to northern Thailand via Burma. Though completed with a new bridge and semi-finished Thai customs house, officials expect the R3B will be the least-used route for China-Thailand trade, because: -- the Chinese government has partially closed the China-Burma border crossing to keep Chinese from gambling at casinos in Burma, according to Mae Sai Customs Officer Kiatchai Pokprapai; and -- Burmese officials have unhelpfully burdened the R3B highway with eight separate checkpoints. ¶6. Kiatchai therefore believes the R3B is a costly route for traders and remains an option only because Burma is a GMS member. The more frequently used western route is for Chinese goods to enter Mae Sai by Mekong shipment and a short overland hop through Burma. Goods are shipped from Jing Hong port in Yunnan to Ban Pong port in Burma, and then transported by truck to Tha Khi Lek, which is just across the border from Mae Sai. The Mae Sai Customs House reported that women's apparel and fake CDs and DVDs are the primary Chinese imports entering Mae Sai, typically for consumption by Thai tourists in local northern markets. -------------- -------------- CHIANG MAI 00000166 002.2 OF 003 -------------- Third Mekong Bridge To Connect Laos-Thailand Via R3A Highway -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶7. The R3A highway runs along the eastern edge of the GMS North-South Corridor. The R3A remains incomplete until a bridge over the Mekong at Chiang Khong is completed in 2011. The Thai and Chinese governments each fund half of this $31 million bridge project, with the Thai government paying an additional $1 million for the survey and design. In addition, Thailand plans to expand Chiang Khong's southbound highway from two lanes to four to accommodate the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) estimate of 400 Chinese trucks that will cross the bridge into Thailand daily. ¶8. The R3A, also known as the Kunming-Bangkok Highway, is expected to be the safer and more time-efficient land route connecting China to Thailand. Local officials estimate that, once the bridge is complete and improvements are made on the Chinese portion of the highway, the total driving time from Kunming to Lamchabang port near Bangkok would be reduced markedly from the current 34 hours' driving time. -------------- -------------- Trade by Land Remains an Expensive Option -------------- -------------- ¶9. Despite these investments in highway and bridge construction, it is considerably less costly to transporting Chinese goods to Thailand via the Mekong or via the sea route through Bangkok. In a study by Chiang Mai University and Chiang Rai Rajabhat University, the cost of transporting goods from Kunming to Thailand via the Mekong was found to be $270 per ton, compared to about $470 per ton via either the R3A or R3B highways. Moreover, many Chinese imports in northern Thailand enter the country via Bangkok because the sea route is more cost-effective from China's coastal manufacturing hubs. Local merchants at a large Chinese goods market in Mae Sai told us that a large portion of the Chinese goods they sell, such as toys and dried mushrooms, enter Thailand via Lamchabang seaport near Bangkok - a route that not only is more cost-effective, but also brings higher-quality goods that are produced in coastal China. Similarly, Thai traders of dried longan fruit, a primary northern Thai export, prefer the sea route through Bangkok as a cheaper and faster way to export goods to Chinese markets. -------------- -------------- -------------- Northern Thailand's Gains from North-South Corridor Remain Unclear -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶10. Chiang Rai Chamber of Commerce and Customs officials view northern Thailand's future role in the North-South Corridor as a middleman between China and foreign markets. They believe northern Thailand will gain from the development of logistics and transportation sectors, though some doubt that a Thai logistics sector would develop because of high costs. Another local concern is that Thailand's gains from the North-South Corridor will go to Bangkok-based businessmen only. ¶11. Further doubts about the Corridor's benefits to northern Thailand are harbored by National Economic and Social Development Board Northern Office Director Wilawan Tanratanakul. She spoke with us after attending an OCTOBER 4 Asian Development Bank-sponsored meeting on the Corridor. Unlike coastal China, she said, Yunnan is not a manufacturing hub for Chinese export goods. She does not expect Chinese investment to expand in northern Thailand's manufacturing sector, and predicts agricultural goods from Yunnan will continue to dominate Chinese-Thai North-South Corridor trade. ¶12. Some observers question even the possible tourist benefit the Corridor could bring to northern Thailand. Rumors around Chiang Saen are that Chinese investors have signed a 90-year lease for about 20,000 acres of land across the border in Ban Ton Pung, Laos, where they will build a tourist city with casino, hotels, and an industrial estate. In addition, local officials fear Thais are more likely to use the new roads for tourism travel into China than Yunnanese will for tourism into northern Thailand. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶13. Although the three ports of entry along Thailand's northern border (Mae Sai, Chiang Saen, and Chiang Khong) are key locations in the Greater Mekong Subregion's North-South CHIANG MAI 00000166 003.2 OF 003 Corridor, doubts remain about whether northern Thailand can benefit significantly from the development of this transportation network. In any case, the network - in part a result of former Prime Minister Thaksin's push for closer economic links with China - has created projects that continue to churn forward. The challenge for northern Thailand will be whether it can leverage itself into being a key beneficiary in the Greater Mekong Subregion or simply serve as an expressway for southern China's access to foreign markets. MORROW