Article 132
Foundation stone marks start of border bridge
WASSANA NANUAM
Narathiwat _ Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his
Malaysian counterpart Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday laid the foundation stone
of a new bridge across the Kolok border river, marking the start of its
construction.
The second Thai-Malaysian bridge, scheduled for completion in 18 months, will
link Ban Buketa village in Narathiwat's Waeng district with Bukit Bu-nga in
Malaysia's Kelantan state.
The bridge, with bicycle lanes, will be 120 metres long and 15.90m wide. The
construction cost of about 60 million baht is to be shared by the two neighbours.
The bridge project is part of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle
Cooperation Scheme, which was initiated in 1994 and signed in 2001.
Mr Abdullah and Mr Thaksin arrived by car at the site in Ban Buketa yesterday in
heavy rain after playing golf together in Phuket.
They flew together from the resort island to Narathiwat's Baan Thorn airport and
continued from ther! e by helicopter to a local school in Waeng.
The two leaders walked across a temporary metal bridge to the site in Bukit Bu-nga
where they viewed a local art performance and later laid the foundation stone on
the Malaysian side of the border.
Mr Thaksin said a third bridge across the Kolok was being planned for
construction in Narathiwat's Tak Bai district.
He also said the Thai-Malaysian ties had much improved with economic and
security cooperation strengthened to tackle problems in Thailand's deep South.
More jobs and better income would help reduce the chance of poor southerners
being led astray by lawless elements, he added.