A new bridge is being planned to connect the countries of Thailand and Malaysia, to become the second bridge spanning the Golok River between the two nations. The provincial governor has said that construction could start in April next year. 

Both countries are said to be keen to speed up the construction of the new infrastructure, having agreed to the plans.

The bridge will be built between Rantau Panjang in Kelantan in Malaysia and Sungai Golok in Narathiwat in Thailand.

Trakul Thotham said the start of construction would depend on the completion of the environmental impact assessment (EIA), Bernama news agency reported in June.

The new bridge will be built in parallel to the existing bridge. The new bridge crossing was first approved in 2009, to ease traffic on the existing bridge. The road surface on the new bridge is expected to be twice as large to better handle traffic flows. 

The cost of construction will be shared equally between the two countries. The Thai government is said to have earmarked 160 million baht – about £3.6 million – for the bridge project.

According to the Bangkok Post, the then Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said in June that the EIA was expected to be completed in September. 

The provincial public relations office in Narathiwat, upon reporting the trip the provincial governor made to the site of the current bridge in June, said that the new bridge is expected to promote economic and tourism activities between the two countries. 

Measures will also be taken for the Golok River estuary, to reduce flooding problems in the area that occur during the monsoon season.