Kra Canal - PC?

For anyone who doesn't know, the Kra Isthmus is the narrow bit of land that connects the Malayan peninsula to Indochina. There were ideas to build a canal there throughout the 19th Century - but what if they had?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_Canal

The issues were mostly with geography. In the article it says the ships would have been lifted 26m to pass through, unlike the Suez which is flat water. Would the canal be an economic asset to Thailand or a colonial power, or just a waste of time?
 
What's the point, actually? There's a number of perfectly navigable straits few hundred kilometers south...
 
Well the Strait of Malacca isn't all that wide or deep and has a large amount of traffic going through it, plus there's a fairly serious pirate problem although thankfully nothing on the scale of Somalia. One of the other main reasons for its construction would be if China helped underwrite the construction costs in return for their getting to run the associated ports and refineries. The Chinese government is willing to spend large amounts of money to buy influence in the future, and controlling the route the majority of their oil supplies are delivered seems like a definite advantage.
 
It's not so daft...

...Shorter sea-routes and less piracy (although I'd love to see tankers with MAC capability, fitted with RAF-surplus Harriers).
 
Well the Strait of Malacca isn't all that wide or deep and has a large amount of traffic going through it, plus there's a fairly serious pirate problem although thankfully nothing on the scale of Somalia. One of the other main reasons for its construction would be if China helped underwrite the construction costs in return for their getting to run the associated ports and refineries. The Chinese government is willing to spend large amounts of money to buy influence in the future, and controlling the route the majority of their oil supplies are delivered seems like a definite advantage.

While that's all well and good, I was talking from a 19th Century perspective. Siam was under Anglo-French influence in this time period, and particularly the Kra was firmly under British control.
 
Unlikely, as it has been before the elevations were just too much. Unless they could get financial backing from many countries (in return for usage rights, a cut of the toll, etc.) it is implausible.
 

Arrix85

Donor
Since the british already controlled Singapore they were against the construction of the Kra canal. If the British didn't have a foothold there then they could be interested.
 
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