Thailand said it will accelerate a long-aspired landbridge project linking new ports on the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand across its Isthmus of Kra in the south of the country, arguing that the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz has underscored the value of controlling alternative transport routes, Bloomberg reported on April 20. Officials said the government is seeking private sector partners through a bidding process and that companies have expressed interest, though no binding investment commitments have been announced.