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| Country’s Infrastructures |
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| Transportation |
 Aviation
Thailand currently has 33 commercial airports, seven of which operate international flights and the remaining 26 operates domestic services. Bangkok International Airport (also known as Don Muang) is the main International Airport of Thailand. Thirty million passengers were served in 2002, with the addition of over 900, 000 tons of cargo.
Other international airports in Thailand situate in major cities of Thailand, such as Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai, U Ta Pao. Chiang Rai Airport was also recently promoted to become an international airport to facilitate the growing tourist industry and cross-boarder trades.The increasing demand for air transportation has surpassed the current handling capacity of the existing airports. The government planned a second international airport in Bangkok to relieve the air traffic congestion. The construction of the second airport is underway and is scheduled to in full operation in 2005.
The new airport is equipped with 4 runways with a projected handling capacity 112 flights per hour providing services to100 million passengers & 6.4 million tons of cargo yearly. Thai Airways International has long been the only national carrier of Thailand. Currently, it has been privatized and listed in the Stock Exchange of Thailand under the State Owned Enterprises Privatization scheme of the government. Thai Airways International is expected to face more competitors in the near future owed to the forthcoming launching of new low-cost airlines by private businesses.The trend should benefit both Thai and foreign passengers in the near future.
Rail & Roads
The land transport system of Thailand includes 79,180 km of highways providing efficient passage to all regions of Thailand.
The government also realized the necessity to enhance the inter-city transport infrastructure creating links between Bangkok and other major cities in each region of Thailand. At present, 225km of the inter-city motorways are already in used. On completion of the construction, the inter-city motorway is expected to stretch 4,150 km long. Undoubtedly, it will be an important access to all major transport systems which are vital for economic development of the country.
The other means of transport for visitor is the rail system. The total length of railroads covers 4,880 km. Despite its relatively low speed, trains are reliable, safe and reasonably priced. Currently, the train system is run by the SRT which is one of the state-owned enterprises that could be privatized in the future. Now the government tries to implement policies to increase efficiency of rail services and to reduce its financial losses resulted by its social service provisions.
For The Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR), the traffic in this area is always congested considering millions of people travel on the roads everyday and the demand grows even more rapidly owing to the recent economic recovery.
The government plans to ease the traffic congestion by expanding the network of mass transit system in Bangkok as well as improving the facility of express way.
The Bangkok Sky Train (BTS), operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc, has started its service in 1999. Its main objective is to help alleviate the chronic traffic problems in Bangkok and to provide people with a fast and efficient means of transportation within the central business region of Bangkok.
The BTS System can carry more than 1000 passengers per train, which is an equal number of passengers of 800 cars. Today, the BTS carries approximately 300,000 passengers per working day. Further plan is being made to extend the coverage to a wider area of Bangkok
addition to the operation of BTS, a new means of transport, the Bangkok Subway by Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) will officially start to launch its service on 12 August 2004.
Ocean Freight
Currently, there are five major ports in Thailand, of which two are operated by of the Port Authority of Thailand namely, the Bangkok Port (BP) and the deep water port at Lam Chanbang Port (LCP). The rest are the Phuket Port, the Map Ta Put port and the Sonkha Port. In addition, private sector also operates a number of ports along coastal area and Cho Pra Ya river.
The Port Authority of Thailand is on the SOEs list to be privatized in 2004 aiming to achieve greater efficiency of their services by introducing the participation from private sector. | |
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The interpretations and conclusions given represent those of the authors. They
do not necessarily reflect the view of the Royal Thai Government, its
departments or other related institutions.
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