As Thailand election looms, voters seek national reset to end decade of decline

It was a policy meant to ignite a golden age of infrastructure development and put Thailand at the heart of Southeast Asia’s trade and investment for decades to come.Three years – and three prime ministers – after it was first proposed, a multibillion-dollar “landbridge” across Thailand’s southern neck to slash transport times between Asia’s main shipping lanes has now hit a dead end, entangled in the kingdom’s intractable political crisis.As Thais prepare to vote on February 8 for yet another government, southerners say the promise of a landbridge connecting the Thailand" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="19574" data-entity-type="location">Gulf of Thailand to the Indian Ocean now feels empty.“We put our resort up for sale when they announced it, but we’re about to have a fourth government, and they still haven’t even started,” said Rung*, a resort owner in Chumphon province that is at the heart of the proposed landbridge.“All of the properties around me put up their land for sale as soon … but we’re all still waiting for buyers.”Srettha Thavisin, then prime minister of Thailand, stands in front of an infographic depicting the landbridge to bypass the Malacca Strait in 2023. Photo: Facebook/Srettha ThavisinOn February 8, Thai voters will seek a reset from a decade-long decline that is showing up in poor economic fundamentals in part caused by the chronic political instability.