New bridges across Songkhla lake linking Ko Lanta to the mainland have been approved for building by the Cabinet. Travel times for residents and tourists alike will be drastically reduced thanks to these newly established land links.
Two new bridges, one over Songkhla Lake and another across Ko Lanta, have been approved for a total expenditure of 6.6 billion baht by the Cabinet.
The first bridge will connect the neighborhoods of Krasae Sin in Songkhla and Khao Chaison in Phatthalung, cutting the distance between the two cities in half from 80 kilometers to 7 kilometers and the travel time in half, from 2 hours to 15 minutes. Trang, Phatthalung, and Songkhla are all part of the new tourism corridor from the Andaman Sea to the Gulf of Thailand, and this bridge will connect them.
The second endeavor is the construction of a bridge connecting Ko Lanta to the mainland in Krabi, and it is much more modest in scale. The length of the bridge between the island and Krabi’s eastern coast is estimated to be 2.2 kilometers.
The Department of Rural Roads has been given the task of building both of these bridges, with a total budget of 4.84 billion baht allotted for the Songkhla Lake bridge and a total budget of 1.85 billion baht allotted for the Ko Lanta bridge.
Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the Minister of Tourism and Sports, has stated he expects the additional transportation options to increase the number of Thai and foreign visitors to the area, which would boost the local economy.
