Transport
From The Report: Thailand 2012
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Years of a governmental stalemate on transport investment appear to be over, after a decision by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to approve borrowing of more than $51bn for infrastructure. High-speed rail will be one major focus: plans call for four lines of several thousand kilometres total, although the project must still be approved by Parliament and pass through environmental impact assessment. Other investments include expansions of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and the deep-water port at Laem Chabang. The airport expansion will not come a moment too soon for Thailand’s crowded airspace, which has forced authorities to divert low-cost carriers to secondary airports.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Spend, spend, spend: Government promises funds for big-ticket projects
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After years of debate about various options to improve and expand transport infrastructure, action is now scheduled to follow the words in a giddying array of directions. In March 2012, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra gave an unequivocal go-ahead to high-speed trains in Thailand, even if the Chinese are not yet ready to proceed with the overall regional plan. Capacities at the busy Laem Chabang port will be boosted and the long-awaited extension of Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok has begun.…

Analysis

Train of thought: Infrastructure borrowings put railways back on track
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In her first meeting with the foreign press corps in March 2012, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra boldly announced that Thailand intended to go it alone on constructing high-speed rail services. The plan on the table up to that point had always been that Thailand would form a part of Chinese ambitions to build – and at least partly fund – fast rail services through South-east Asia, mainly for freight. Preferably, from Beijing’s point of view, Chinese freight. COSTS: What the premier…

Analysis

To Myanmar and beyond: One small step forward for $50bn port and industrial project
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The drawing board rationale for a Thai company to develop a $50bn deep-water port and industrial complex in neighbouring Myanmar is astonishingly simple. The 250-sq-km development would reduce sea transport time between Thailand and India or Europe by more than a week, avoid the overcrowded sea lanes of the Strait of Malacca and at the same time establish a steel mill and petrochemicals plant to supply industry in Thailand and other countries in the region. Italian-Thai Development, the largest…

Analysis

Two in one will go: Soaring passenger numbers lead to backtrack on single airport policy
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The theory is sound. A single mega-airport housing all international and domestic flights in and out of Bangkok has its obvious advantages. It would bring economies of scale for the airport and airlines as well as easier transfers for passengers, advantages endorsed by the International Association of Air Transport (IATA). However, Thailand is a victim of its ability to attract extra tourists by the millions despite the political upheavals and natural disasters of the past few years. RISING…