Kolkata to Thailand via Myanmar! Road that won’t be less travelled – Know all about the scenic route

The trilateral highway connecting Kolkata to Bangkok via Myanmar is expected to be completed and ready for launch in four years’ time, a group of Commerce Ministers from various countries revealed recently. Not many know this, but the idea of this visionary road link project had come from former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The plan was approved at a ministerial meeting between India, Myanmar and Thailand in April 2002. The motive behind this project was to boost trade between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway: What is the route and total distance?

Needless to say, the sheer distance and route posed many challenges for the government which led to the delay of this mega project. But now it has been revealed that this travel road will be opened in about four years.

According to the proposed plan, the highway will cover cities like Sukhothai and Mae Sot in Thailand and Yangon, Mandalay, Kalewa, and Tamu in Myanmar before entering India. In India, the road is likely to go through Moreh, Kohima, Guwahati, Srirampur, and Siliguri to Kolkata, as per a TOI report.

As per reports, the total distance that the trilateral highway would cover would probably be more than 2,800 kms. India will have the longest stretch of the highway, while the shortest will be in Thailand.

How much work is left to complete the Trilateral Highway? Most of the construction work has already been completed in India and Thailand, but Myanmar is still holding up the construction due to various reasons. Myanmar Commerce Minister Aung Naing Oo told Swarajya that a stretch which is 121.8-kilometre between Kalewa and Yar Gyi is being upgraded to a four-lane highway which is taking time. It is this stretch that will take another 2-3 years to be completely done.

Read More at https://www.financialexpress.com/business/roadways-kolkata-to-thailand-via-myanmar-road-that-wont-be-less-travelled-know-all-about-the-scenic-route-distance-and-launch-time-3128938/