Skip to main content

Thailand expands transportation infrastructure

The Thai government is expanding its current transportation systems with plans for 55 transportation projects worth US$72 billion which are expected to be completed by 2020. Of the US$72 billion, 64 percent will be spent on 31 rail projects, 24 per cent on 13 road projects, 7 per cent for seven water transportation projects, and 4.75 per cent is for four air transportation projects. These projects are designed to make Thailand a crossroads for the ASEAN logistics network, enabling cities in the region to be
March 11, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The Thai government is expanding its current transportation systems with plans for 55 transportation projects worth US$72 billion which are expected to be completed by 2020. Of the US$72 billion, 64 percent will be spent on 31 rail projects, 24 per cent on 13 road projects, 7 per cent for seven water transportation projects, and 4.75 per cent is for four air transportation projects.

These projects are designed to make Thailand a crossroads for the ASEAN logistics network, enabling cities in the region to benefit from the improved transportation linkage between Thailand and its neighbours and between ASEAN members, reducing logistics costs and promoting tourism within the region.

The road links are expected to boost border trade, of which for the first three quarters of 2012 were valued at US$ 22.7 billion, while new investments in rail projects are designed to reduce logistic costs and minimise transportation time.

The Thai government will also be issuing tenders for four high speed train routes, which it says will help reduce commuters’ travel time, lower the cost of transporting goods, and improve the environment by reducing pollution and energy consumption. In Bangkok, where new roads cannot be built, electric train routes will be expanded from the current 40 kilometres to 468.8 kilometres.

The government is planning to finance the projects through revenue from state enterprises, fifty per cent through government revenue, 32 per cent through state owned enterprises and loans, and eighteen per cent through public and private investment.  Thailand’s minister of transport, Chadchart Sittipunt wants to make this national transportation expansion project a national agenda and turn it into contingency plan which will be continued by successive governments.

The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) is aware of the importance of expanding Thailand transportation infrastructure and its impact on the development of Thailand, and has pledged to support logistic and infrastructure investment project by offering tax incentives and other benefits for projects involving transportation infrastructure.

Related Content

  • House proposes US$10.5 billion eight-month highway bill
    July 10, 2014
    The US Government House Ways and Means Committee is proposing a US$10.5 billion, eight-month transportation funding bill to push the debate over road and transit spending into the next Congress. The proposal, which calls for a temporary extension of current transportation funding levels until 31 May 2015, comes as lawmakers try to come up with a way to replenish the Department of Transportation's depleted Highway Trust Fund before a predicted August bankruptcy date. The traditional funding source fo
  • MoDOT launches guide to transportation funding
    December 15, 2016
    In an effort to inform Missourians on the current status and future direction of their transportation system, Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has issued the Citizen’s Guide to Transportation Funding to explain where the money comes from and where it is spent. It also includes a calculator so people can figure out their monthly costs for transportation taxes and fees. Missouri ranks 47th nationally in revenue per mile, primarily because it has the nation’s seventh largest road system with 33
  • Brazil to call three highway concession tenders
    October 3, 2013
    Brazil's federal government will launch tenders by 12 October for three new federal highway concessions totalling 2,765 kilometres, according to transport minister César Borges. Falling under the country's US$110 billion transportation logistics program, the largest concession involves 1,100 kilometres of highway through the Federal District and the states of Goiás and Minas Gerais. An 851 kilometre stretch in the state of Mato Grosso will also be tendered, while an 814 kilometre highway segment between
  • Financing the US road infrastructure – road user charging?
    February 2, 2012
    In the US, the National Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission's report to Congress will state that a national, distance-based charging is the only long-term solution to the country's infrastructure financing problems. The Commission's Chair, Rob Atkinson, talks to ITS International