ROADS

HIGHWAYS:

Thailand's land transportation system consists of a well-developed road network of approximately 170,000 km, a rail network of more than 4,000 km serving all major regions of the country (except Phuket), and the mass transit systems in Bangkok. The development of a land transportation infrastructure is mainly the responsibility of six agencies :

1. Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA)
2. Department of Land Transportation
3. Expressway and Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (ETA)
4. Highways Department (HD)
5. Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA)
6. State Railway of Thailand (SRT)

Among Major Projects Are :

• four-lane highways to all regions of Thailand
• dual-track rail lines throughout the country
• a high-speed rail link to the Eastern Seaboard
• an inland container terminal at Lat Krabang
• three truck terminals around Bangkok
• more expressways in Bangkok
• mass rapid transit systems in Bangkok
• a mass-transit system in Chiang Mai

The Highways Department is responsible for maintaining and expanding the country's highway network, which amounts to more than 52,000 km.(1997)

Inter-provincial Highways

Inter-provincial Four-Lane Extension
Region	Time frame	Length (km)	Construction costs  (million baht)
North	1994-1998	647	16,600
Northeast	1993-1999	231	4,600
East	1994-998	120	3,000
South	1994-1998	893	21,700
Total		1,891	45,900
Source: Highways Department

Special Highways
Location	Completion  Year	Length  (km)	Construction  costs (million baht)
1. Eastern Ring road (Bang Pa-In - Bangplee) (4-8 lanes)	1996	62	10,727
2. New Bangkok - Chonburi Highway (4-8 lanes)	1997	82	14,338
3. Krabi -Khanom (4 lanes), part of the Southern Seaboard	1998	193.5	9,060
Source: Highways Department

RAILWAYS

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) operates under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. It is responsible for building , operating, and maintaining Thailand's railway tracks. The route length of the network is nearly 4,000 km.

Lat Krabang Inland Container Depot

Construction of Thailand’s first purpose-built inland container depot was completed in 1995. The depot is in the Lat Krabang Industrial Estate, about 30 km. from east of Bangkok and is meant to support the importation and exportation of the country in conjunction with the new deep seaport at Laem Chabang on the Eastern Seaboard. The depot is divided into six independent modules that are leased out to private sector operators, but the facility is managed by SRT. Throughput at the facility rose from 175,000 TEU in 1996 to 630,000 TEU in 1999, which its full capacity.)

The rapid increase in containerized shipping movements through the port of Laem Chabang, the very considerable expansion of industrial and associated activities on the Eastern Seaboard have placed increasing demands the Lat Krabang port. A plan to expand the facility was completed in late 2001.

Cross Border Traffic: Thailand-Malaysia

At present, export and import of goods can be conveniently transported by train through the Thai-Malaysian border without further unloading. The traffic is made via Sungai Kolok and Badang Besar Stations on the eastern and western borders of Malaysia respectively. Frequent shippers with a high volume of goods transported can enjoy the service through and from Singapore.

Shippers can choose between the freight service offered by the State Railway of Thailand and KTM Berhad or a containerized service. Whichever service is chosen, railway staff, customs officers and other related authorities are on hand to facilitate procedures at the border station including the handing and preparation of document, customs and formalities, inspection of goods and so forth.

PORTS

The development and management of all major deep-sea ports in Thailand falls under the Port Authority of Thailand (PAT). Other ports, including two smaller deep-sea ports, are under the Harbor Department. At present, there are eight international deep-sea ports in operation,with four private ports permitted to handle container cargo. Laem Chabang Commercial Port and Map Ta Phut Industrial Port were completed in 1992. Songkhla and Phuket Ports have been developed to serve Southern Thailand.

Current Commercial Ports

Commercial Ports of the Harbor Department
Seaports	Capacity (tons/year)	Largest ships (tons)	Containers (TEU/year)
Phuket	3 million	20,000	32,000
Songkhla	3 million	20,000	128,000

AIRPORTS

The planning and administration of the country's air transport infrastructure is under the shared responsibility of the Airport Authority of Thailand (AAT) and the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) under the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
Thailand has six international airports and more than 29 domestic airports. According to AAT figures, commercial aviation services totaled 243,475 flights in 2001, a 5.44% increase from the year before. Total passengers in 2001 was 38.2 million, a 5.88 % increase from 2000.

The largest airport, Don Muang, handles more than 12 million international and nearly 5 million domestic passengers a year.Of the other international airports, Phuket has been the most successful one. Chiang Mai and Hat Yai have experienced relatively slow growth. Recently, Chiang Rai was upgraded to an international airport to accommodate growing tourism in the Golden Triangle and facilitate future cross-border trade with neighboring countries.

Major air transportation infrastructure projects include the Second Bangkok International Airport (SBIA) at Nong Ngu Hao, the Global Transpark (GTP) at U-Taphao, and the Heavy Aircraft Maintenance Center (HAMC), also at U-Taphao. There will also be various other projects including the expansion of existing international and domestic airports as well as the development of new airports in the provinces. Combined, these projects will enable Thailand to achieve its goal of becoming a regional air transportation hub.

Bangkok Air Traffic Volume
Volume/Year	1980	1990	2000	2010
International Passengers (in Thousands)	4,138	10,906	25,656	40486
Domestic Passengers (in Thousands)	452	3,423	9,360	15,481
Total	4,590	14,329	35,016	55,967
Cargo (in Thousand Tons)	111	447	1,353	2,463
Flights (in Thousands)	54	109	203	279
Source: Airports Authority of Thailand

AIRPORTS

Northern Airports

Lampang Airport, Lomsak Airport,
Mae Hong Son Airport, Maesai Airport,
Nakhon Sawan Airport, Nan Airport,
Phitsanulok Airport, Phrae Airport,
Tak Airport, Uttaradit Airport

Northeastern Airports

Buri Ram Airport, Chaiyaphum Airport,
Khon Kaen Airport, Loei Airport,
Nakhon Phanom Airport, Nakhon Ratchasima Airport,
Roi Et Airport, Sakon Nakhon Airport, Ubon Ratchatani Airport,
Udon Thani Airport

Central Western & Eastern Airports

Lop Buri Airport, Nakhon Pathom Airport, Prachuap Khiri Khan Airport, Sattahip Airport

Southewrn Airports

Chumphon Airport, Krabi Airport, Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport, Narathiwat Airport, Pattani Airport, Ranong Airport, Songkhla Airport, Surat Thani Airport, Trang Airport

International Airports

Bangkok International Airport, Chiang Mai International Airport, Chiang Rai International Airport, Hat Yai International Airport, Phuket International Airport, U-Taphao International Airport

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Thailand's telecommunications services have improved substantially over the past few years, especially in Bangkok, which now has an abundance of fixed lines for offices and residences. The Bangkok metro area is served by two fixed-line operators: the Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT), a state enterprise, and Telecom Asia, a private company. The latter can usually install a phone within a few days, the former somewhat longer. Local calls are not timed and carry a fixed tariff of 3 baht per call. Areas outside Bangkok are served by the TOT and the private company TT&T Public Co., Ltd. The fixed line network has a total capacity of 7.75 million lines, of which about 6.02 million are in use. In addition, 218,968 public telephones are available nationwide.

International calls are handled by the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT), which provides direct access to just about any country. International rates have been falling, but remain higher than neighboring countries. International phone cards are widely available in tourist areas.

Mobile phones are easily available at competitive prices from three main service providers using GSM digital networks: Advanced Info Services (AIS), Total Access Communications (TAC) and TA Orange. A wide range of service packages are available with many prices and options from which to choose. The number of mobile subscribers has soared from a less than 2 million in 1997 to 12.6 million in June 2002.

About a dozen private companies offer internet services for personal and corporate accounts. Prepaid or subscription services are available at reasonable rates. With only a couple service providers offering ADSL or cable modem options, the vast majority of users connect with dail-up modems.

Conventional Services
Year	Nation	Density  Lines/100	BKK/P
1992	3,164,125	5.5	4.85:1
1993	3,769,842	6.4	2.27:1
1994	4,473,248	7.5	2.11:1
1995	5,242,091	8.6	1.94:1
1996	6,119,906	9.9	1.74:1
1997	7,087,026	11.4	1.53:1
1998	8,143,103	12.9	1.33:1
1999	9,318,344	14.6	1.16:1
2000	10,605,920	16.4	0.98:1
2001	12,022,571	18.4	0.85:1
Note: Bkk/P is the ratio between greater Bangkok and provinces. Source: TOT