The Kra Canal – to build or NOT to build, that’s three centuries old question.

As we know, China’s promotion of its “One Belt, One Road” strategy  may gradually reshape the Eurasian continent, but within this grand vision of a “New Silk Road”, it may well be the construction of the Kra Canal in the south of Thailand which could perhaps have the greatest impact.

The Kra Canal was an idea that first emerged in the 17th century. The idea is to build a canal across the less-than-30 mile Kra Isthmus in Thailand – connecting the Andaman Sea in the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea.

The logic supporting the Thai Canal, or Kra Canal, is solid – ships would no longer have to go the long way around Singapore, through the pirate-infested chokepoint known as the Strait of Malacca.

Shippers could shave off three or four days from their travel time, translating to a $300,000 savings on the cost of a 100,000 ton cargo ship voyage.

More than 15 million barrels of oil per day – about 17% of the world’s daily production – are transported through the Strait alone.

The Kra Canal would also alleviate congestion. The Strait can currently accommodate about 122,000 ships. However, by 2025, roughly 140,000 ships will be plying the waters.

The canal is estimated to cost nearly $30 billion to build.

And of course, there’s the matter of complicated Thai politics. Some in Thailand say the canal will divide the nation into two countries.

Neighboring countries, Singapore and Malaysia, who want to keep benefiting from the ship traffic through the Strait, are strongly opposed to the canal.

Overlaying this is the geopolitical battle between China and the United States. for influence in the region.

China would like to make the proposed canal a part of its Maritime Silk Road. This was suggested in the ambitious plan unveiled in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping – a plan to create the modern-day equivalent of the historic Silk Road. The plan aimed at having new land and water routes tying China to trading partners all the way to Europe.

According to proponents, the Kra Canal would not be a substitute for the Strait of Malacca but perhaps a necessary complement.

One fourth of internationally traded goods crossing the Strait of Malacca have congested the stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, and while China is on the way to become the world’s largest economy the opening of another trading conduit closer to continental Southeast Asia may be the answer to an objective need.

With special economic zones integrated both in the south and in the north of the canal, Thailand could enter one of the most prosperous periods of her long history.

Far to exacerbate the existing tensions in southern Thailand, the Kra Canal would have instead the opposite effect by rebalancing the distribution of the Kingdom’s economy whose center, Bangkok, produces around 30% of the country’s economic output.

In May 2015, there was a supposed agreement between Thailand’s Asia Union Group and China-led China-Thailand Kra Infrastructure & Development to start a feasibility study to consider building the canal.The Chinese company is already building other infrastructure in Thailand.

But within days, there were denials of any deal. Thailand likely backed away under intense diplomatic pressure from the United States.

But the Thai government may later give a China-led project the thumbs-up.

The economic opportunity to become a regional maritime center, surpassing Singapore and Malaysia, is going to be too good to pass up.

And China maybe patient enough to wait for Thailand’s approval.

What do you think?