Rayong, Thailand

Rayong, Thailand: Submarine Cable Landing Point

Rayong is a city situated on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, serving as the capital of Rayong province. As a coastal settlement fronting the Gulf of Thailand, Rayong hosts submarine cable infrastructure that connects Thailand with its regional neighbours in Southeast Asia. One submarine cable lands at Rayong, linking Thailand with Cambodia and Malaysia along a regional corridor within the Gulf of Thailand and the surrounding maritime zone.

The cable landing at Rayong supports regional connectivity within mainland and peninsular Southeast Asia. The route enabled by this connection spans a shorter-range corridor compared to the intercontinental cables that land elsewhere in Thailand, reflecting Rayong's role as a regional rather than long-haul submarine cable terminus.

Cables Landing at Rayong

The Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand (MCT) Cable is the sole submarine cable landing at Rayong. The system spans 1,300 kilometres and reached ready-for-service status in 2017. In addition to Rayong, the MCT Cable connects to landing points in Cambodia and Malaysia, forming a triangular regional network across the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea. The cable's relatively compact length reflects its intra-regional design, serving to link three neighbouring Southeast Asian countries rather than bridging intercontinental distances.

Regional Context

Within Thailand's submarine cable landscape, Rayong sits among seven landing points that collectively host 16 submarine cables. Rayong, with a single cable, ranks in the middle tier of Thai landing points by cable count, comparable to Chumphon, Koh Samui, and Phetchaburi, each of which also hosts one cable. By contrast, Songkhla leads with nine cables and Satun hosts seven, while Sriracha supports four, making those locations considerably more connected nodes in the national submarine cable network.

Network Role

Rayong functions as a single-cable terminus in the Thai submarine cable network, providing a direct regional link between Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia via the MCT Cable. This positions Rayong specifically within the Gulf of Thailand corridor, complementing the broader set of Thai landing points that serve longer-haul and higher-capacity routes. The landing point does not currently operate as a multi-cable hub but instead fulfils a focused role in regional interconnection among three immediately neighbouring countries.

In the regional submarine cable graph, Rayong's connection through the MCT Cable ensures that Thailand maintains a dedicated short-route link to Cambodia — a country with limited submarine cable access — while reinforcing the broader mesh of intra-ASEAN submarine connectivity.