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

  • Compromise possible on US transportation funding
    January 23, 2015
    Following President Obama’s State of the Union address, republicans are indicating that they are open to compromising with the president on increasing US transportation funding, although neither side has offered specifics on how they would pay for new construction projects. According to The Hill, Obama has called for Congress to pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan, including using savings from tax reform to pay for transportation projects, although he stopped short of calling for an increase in the fe
  • Mexico City seeks solutions to improve air quality
    December 6, 2017
    David Crawford ponders prospects for one of the world’s most congested and polluted cities. In 1992, the United Nations named Mexico City as the world’s most polluted urban centre. In the first half of 2016, following the updating of pollution alert limits to meet international standards, Mexico recorded 115 days where ozone concentrations exceeded the acute exposure health limit.
  • Maintaining momentum: learning lessons from the London Olympics
    November 15, 2013
    Japan will not only host this year’s ITS World Congress but has been selected for the 2020 Olympics. So what can Japan, and indeed Brazil, learn from the traffic management for London 2012 - Geoff Hadwick finds out. It was a key moment when Olympic boss Jacques Rogge signed off London 2012, calling the Games “happy and glorious.” Scarred by the logistical disaster of Atlanta 1996 and the last-minute building panic for Athens 2008, Rogge clearly thought London 2012 was an object lesson in how to plan and
  • EBRD finances road repairs and upgrades in Eastern Europe
    July 15, 2016
    The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a sovereign loan of up to US$86 million (€65 million) to Bosnia and Herzegovina to support an infrastructure programme aimed at repairing and upgrading the country’s road network, which has been damaged by severe floods in recent years. The improvements to the network will support regional connectivity, making it easier for domestic companies to transport their products to local and regional customers. Supporting regional integratio