Between the Two Seas of Indo-Pacific / Suthiphand CHIRATHIVAT and Charit TINGSABADH

Asia’s Post-Pandemic Order and Integration: Outlook of ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific at Crossroads

Between the Two Seas of Indo-Pacific : From Kra Isthmus to Thai Canal and Landbridge in Southern Thailand
Suthiphand CHIRATHIVAT and Charit TINGSABADH, ASEAN Studies Center, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok

Recent regional strategic changes have generated an exceptional relooking of two seas’ linkages of Indo-Pacific, in conjunction with the revival of Kra Isthmus in Southern Thailand. The issue is not new as it is the narrowest part of Malay-Thai peninsular and could represent the most direct maritime route to link South China Sea to the Indian Ocean and the wider world. More than 3 centuries ago, under King Narai’s reign, The French proposed to dig the Kra Isthmus to channel the two sides of the oceans, but the idea never materialized. Since then, Kra Isthmus was repeatedly figured but only in discussion. Until China’s BRI takes shape, Kra Isthmus morphed into its new name, Klong Thai (Thai canal), supposedly initiated by local interest groups. Only the project size too big to fail, thus it gave, the Prayuth government, to advance an interim alternative, landbridge, linking the two provinces of Chumporn and Ranong between the two seas of Indo-Pacific. The paper tries to answer why such reviving interests of Kra Isthmus at present ? Who could benefit ? And at what costs ? And whether landbridge, as an alternative, could open a new era of Thailand-ASEAN connectivity and BRI linking to the Indo-Pacific ?

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Session 6 / ASEAN amidst Competing Connectivity Strategies and Integration Challenges
Chair : Prof. Prabir DE, ASEAN-India Centre (AIC), Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS)

ASEAN is still far from clear that new geopolitical changing landscape and implications from major power rivalries will turn out to be positive for the future of region building. The prime objective of the Indo-Pacific is often seen as focussed on the security issue, and not yet well defined on its economic and connectivity potential. Without downplaying the significance of the Indo-Pacific, the issue is, however, about how ASEAN connectivity will be forging with a broader region of the Indo-Pacific, in addition to the already-existed initiatives like ASEAN Master Plan of Connectivity, and ASEAN Plus’s Connectivities, the region has built up over years. What about the acceptance of the Indo-Pacific construct meant for AOIP and ASEAN Connectivity in particular ? Session will review the progress in implementing the above initiatives and the tasks ahead.

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“Asia’s Post-Pandemic Order and Integration : Outlook of ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific at Crossroads” is an international conference organized by The Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC-CNRS) with the ASEAN Studies Center (Chulalongkorn University) in Bangkok, and the ASEAN-India Centre (AIC), RIS in New Delhi.
8-9 July 2021 - Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok