Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the Eastern Economic Corridor. For those who are unaware, there are three provinces in what is called what is called Thailand's Eastern seaboard which are Rayong, Chonburi and Chachoengsao which make up what we call the Eastern Economic Corridor. For those who are unaware, we have done a number of videos on this. Legislation was promulgated wherein sort of a Special Economic Zone if you will or let’s call it a Special Zone was set up in these three provinces and it is called the EEC, the Eastern Economic Corridor. Very, very similar to the BOI insofar as it can confer, there is a Committee, there is a body that oversees this Eastern Economic Corridor and they can grant certain concessions not dissimilar to the Board of Investment for example, the BOI.

That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Pattaya is changing fast but Walking Street safe for now. I urge those who are watching this video go read that article in detail, a lot of information in there, a lot of insight actually in there into what's going on in Thailand specifically down in Pattaya at the moment, in the EEC, but I thought this excerpt specifically was rather interesting. Quoting directly: "Although Pattaya is not an industrial centre and never will be, it benefits from the knock-on effects according to Deputy Government Spokesperson Tipanan Sirichana. The recent surge in tourist arrivals from U-tapao airport is possible because of the new, EEC funded Rayong-Bangkok Motorway. Other local initiatives have been beach reclamation projects, sewage disposal units, port terminal renovation at Bali Hai and Laem Chabang and the transformation of Naklua into a tourist-friendly town." 

Yeah, a lot going on here and again this sort of knock-on effect we are feeling, I remember in Evidence in Law School there was this notion of a reverberating clang, it had to do with the case of Dr. Sheppard, the movie The Fugitive was based on but the whole concept was the notion that evidence could be so powerful and possibly prejudicial that there would be a reverberating clang that the jury could never get themselves beyond and this clang would just sort of hang in the air. Similarly, I think we are seeing sort of this reverberating clang insofar as we are seeing these knock-on benefits of the EEC. Again, the EEC itself is not overly industrialized yet, might be in the future, in fact that may actually be the way that this is going but what it is, is it acts, what it is definitely going to act as is a sort of an entrepôt or sort of a crossroads of trade as well as something of like an incubator if you will for possible future services either in a physical context or I presume more likely in an online context. 

So again how exactly this plays out remains to be seen. What can be said for certain is overall, it definitely looks like a major benefit to the three provinces and any of the towns and cities that are in those provinces in the Eastern Economic Corridor.