Thailand is investing millions of dollars in infrastructure projects that could make it a hub of Southeast Asian commerce. One of the key schemes is its Eastern Economic Corridor - being developed in association with China's Belt and Road Initiative. CGTN'S Martin Lowe reports from Thailand.

U-Tapao airport was an American military base during the Vietnam War. Later it brought tourists to nearby Pattaya, Thailand's most popular beach resort. Now it's being expanded – to become Bangkok's third airport and a gateway to Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor, or EEC.

The EEC is key to Thailand's development and participation in China's Belt & Road global trade initiative. It'll become a center for e-commerce across Southeast Asia, in partnership with China's Alibaba Group. It also houses more than a hundred Chinese factories at a huge Thai-Chinese industrial zone.

But it's the big-ticket projects like U-Tapao that grab the attention. There'll be a second runway and a third terminal – seeing capacity leap from three to fifteen million passengers a year. Nearby, a commercial seaport at Sattahip – which is also home to the Royal Thai Navy – is being developed to accommodate cruise liners, cargo ships and ferries. There'll be hugely-increased capacity for goods – and passenger services to Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore.

GENERAL PRAWIT WONGSUWAN THAI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER "The Thai government has formed the EEC as one of the major mechanisms to drive our 20-year national strategy through technology and innovation."

In a further boost to tourism, a sea link is connecting Pattaya to the holiday town of Hua Hin, a hundred kilometers away across the Gulf of Thailand. High-speed catamarans can make the trip in two hours, more than halving the five-hour road journey. At present the boats carry only passengers but it's planned to add vehicles in the future.

MARTIN LOWE SATTAHIP, THAILAND "These are multi-million dollar projects, designed to boost trade, travel and tourism. The EEC is part of Thailand's fourth stage of economic development – and much of the impetus for this is coming from Belt and Road."

GENERAL PRAWIT WONGSUWAN THAI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER "Of course it will be beneficial: The EEC and Belt and Road complement each other."

Thailand says the EEC will be a new 'engine for growth' right across Southeast Asia, a key Belt & Road project and an economic driver for the nation's future. Martin Lowe CGTN, at Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor.