Border walls trend gains ground in Southeast Asia

As Kuala Lumpur prepares to host the most important ASEAN summit in recent years on October 26, Malaysia has announced the construction of a 50-kilometer barrier in the state of Kelantan to combat criminal trafficking from Thailand. And the princess of Bangkok is donating funds for a wall on the border with Cambodia.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) – While Kuala Lumpur prepares to host the most significant ASEAN summit in recent years from October 26 to 28 – the organization for cooperation among Southeast Asian countries – with numerous leaders from around the world attending as guests, the walls erected along the borders between its member countries seem destined to increase.

This will The latest is a 50-kilometer wall, whose construction was recently approved by the Malaysian government for an area of Kelantan State, along the border with Thailand opposite Narathiwat Province. Kuala Lumpur has allocated a budget of 1.5 billion ringgit (approximately 300 million euros, ed.) for the construction of a barrier between the cities of Tumpat and Tenah Merah.

The stated purpose of the structure will be to combat smuggling and other cross-border crimes, as well as to prevent flooding of the Golok River, which separates the two countries in that area. The new wall—the first in the state of Kelantan—will join others already built by Malaysia in some areas of the border with southern Thailand.

The other project that has been much talked about in recent weeks is the wall that could be built on the very tense border between Thailand and Cambodia, the scene of armed clashes between the two countries last July, but also a crossroads for criminal activities linked to scam centers. In recent weeks, the Thai media has reported that Princess Chulabhorn Krom Phra Srisavangavadhana, the younger sister of King Rama X, has donated one million baht (approximately €26,000) to set up the Hathai Thip Fund, which will serve as seed capital for the construction of walls and barriers along the border between Thailand and Cambodia.

General Nattaphon Narkphanit, Minister of Defense in the Bangkok government, added that the fence will be built in areas where the border “has been clearly agreed upon.” The first section of the project concerns the province of Sa Kaeo, where the barrier would extend for 10 kilometers, with an estimated budget of 87 million baht (€2.62 million). “Construction could begin immediately once the funds are confirmed,” the minister said.