The poll, which ran for two weeks and closed last night (Feb 26), was posted after international reports by state-owned news agencies in Malaysia and Singapore attempted to counter the forward momentum for the project.
Those reports were published after The Phuket News posted its story presenting arguments in favour of the canal put forward by two key figures of the Thai Canal Association for Study and Development – Royal Thai Navy Adm (Rtd) Soopakorn Boonranadiloak and Pakdee Tanapura.
The pair, as guest speakers at a British Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (BCCT) Phuket Business Dinner event on Feb 1, confirmed that the association had filed a formal request to the current government to undertake a full feasibility study to make the Kra Canal a reality. (See story here.)
At present, the national government is reviewing the proposal, which in short calls for a 135-kilometre-long canal to be excavated from Sikao in Trang, little over 100km in a direct line southeast of Phuket, to Ranode in Songkhla on the Gulf of Thailand at a cost of B55 billion. (See story here.)
To all this, The Phuket News asked readers the simple question, “Should Thailand build the Kra Canal?”
A total of 36% of respondents voted,“Yes – the time is now, start building it.”
A further 37% of respondents voted, “Yes – but only if approved via a full feasibility study and a full Environmental Impact Assessment, including public approval and feedback meetings, is conducted by a respected independent organisation.”
Only 3% of respondents voted, “Not yet – growth in global shipping dictates that the Kra Canal will be needed sometime in the future, but not just yet.”
The majority support for the Kra Canal, however, did come with a strong response to not build the canal, with 25% of repondents to the poll voting, “No – the entire project is a waste of taxpayer’s money and endangers the environment and tourism to the Andaman region.
For the full poll results, click here.
If your preferred response was not listed, feel free to add it in the comments section below.
To see the results of our previous poll, which asked, “Do you believe in Bitcoin?”, click here.