Narai the Great, a Thai emperor, had a dream in 1677 of building a river way across the Malay Peninsula's narrowest point, known as the Kra Isthmus, with the intention of establishing a direct trade route between Siam, now Thailand and Burma.

He ordered his engineer from the south to study the feasibility of dredging this canal as a viable alternative to the lengthier and more congested route across the Malacca Strait, a narrow sea corridor that connects modern-day Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore and transports 25% of the world's commercial goods.

According to one Thai legislator, as of now, China may have ambitions to build such a canal, but there's a catch. The Thai government shelved plans for a marine route between the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea in 2020, therefore the Kra Isthmus is currently being considered as a Thai Land Bridge, utilizing road and rail connections to transport goods to and from deep seaports on both sides.

The Thai Land Bridge, if completed, would give an alternate route around the congested Strait of Malacca, lowering transit costs, reducing the danger of piracy, and alleviating strain on a waterway that is expected to surpass its capacity in the next 10 years.

Countries are reliant on West Asian energy resources, which needs a steady trade supply The main disadvantages of creating a canal, this big and long would have such environmental damage and end up isolating the country.

This could result in a Country-wide uprising in the south, which could be avoided with the land-based strategy. Supporters of the plan also believed that it could not be done for less than the staggering US$55 billion estimated to be needed to construct a canal.

A classified US Defense Department document from 2005 has detailed how China was planning to invest in the Kra Canal. This stems from the fact that the country has become acutely vulnerable, particularly because of its sheer reliance on the Malacca Straits.

Former Chinese President Hu Jintao created the phrase "Malacca Dilemma" to describe China's overwhelming reliance on the Straits, which has put the country's ability to access the oceans and move commerce and energy supplies at risk.

The focus on alternatives to the Straits of Malacca will lead to an increase in Beijing's efforts to leverage Southeast Asian nations as it strives to expand its significance through initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It is in this context that the Kra canal's issue is raised.

In terms of geopolitics, as China's assertiveness in the Indian and Pacific Oceans has grown, China has used coercion to gain control and security over its maritime environment in the South China Sea. This has been done through the construction of artificial islands as well as seemingly innocuous economic methods such as anchoring fishing trawlers in contested waters.

Controlling of a transit corridor via Thailand would aid China's energy security and blockade resistance. Navy vessels would be able to reach the Indian Ocean more easily if it were a canal.

This would fit in with China's "String of Pearls" policy, which pertains to a geopolitical hypothesis that describes the network of Chinese aspirations in the Indian Ocean region (IOR). It relates directly to China's network of military and economic facilities built-in nations bordering the Indian Ocean between both the Chinese mainland and Port Sudan.

The threat of a US Navy energy blockade in the Strait of Malacca will cause major economic harm to China is viewed as a propelling reason for Beijing to diversify its energy security, such as oil and gas pipelines through Myanmar. 

In recent months, major protests have broken out against the present administration in Thailand. Thai student organizations suspect that the government is cozying up to China and have taken to the streets to protest the government's suspected participation in the abduction and death of dissidents, who opposed the moves thereby putting Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's position under fire.