For more than two decades, plans for a deep-seaport at Pak Bara in La-ngu District have been vetted by the government, only to be dropped, then revived by successive governments. The seaport will be linked to a port in Songkhla on the Gulf of Thailand. The port will be capable of accommodating 825,000 TEU of cargo per year as well as supertankers. It would mean that vessels would not have to sail through the Malacca Straits, notorious for pirate attacks, to reach deep seaports at Laem Chabang or Bangkok. Construction of the port would involve the creation of an artificial island 430 m wide and one kilometre long, an area of 292 rai about four kilometres offshore connected by a bridge. The project includes the construction of roads, port facilities and railway lines, all totalling about 4,734 rai (757 hectares).