Transport in Thailand

A large number of buses, minibuses and taxis share the streets with private vehicles at Ratchadamri Road, Bangkok.
Tuk-tuks are one mode of public transport in Bangkok and other cities in Thailand.

Transport in Thailand is varied and chaotic, with no one dominant means of transport. Bus transport dominates in long distances and Bangkok, with motorbikes dominating in rural areas for short trips, supplanting bicycles. Road transportation is the primary form of freight transport across the country. Slow rail travel has long been a rural long-distance transport mechanism, though plans are underway to expand services with high-speed rail lines extending to several major regions of Thailand.

Domestic air transport, which until recently had been dominated by a select few air carriers, has recently seen a surge in popularity due in large part to the expanding services of low cost carriers. In Bangkok, Pattaya, and other large cities, public motorcycle taxi take people door to door. An overwhelming number of taxis can also be found in Bangkok. Since the country's first rapid rail transit line opened in 1999 in Bangkok, daily ridership on Bangkok's various transit lines has risen to over 800,000, with multiple additional lines either under construction or being proposed.

Private automobiles, whose rapid growth contributed to Bangkok's notorious traffic congestion over the past two decades, have risen in popularity, especially among tourists, expats, the upper class, and the growing middle class. A motorway network across Thailand has been gradually implemented, with motorways completed in Bangkok and most of central Thailand. Areas with navigable waterways often have boats or boat service, and many innovative means of transport exist such as tuk-tuk, vanpool, songthaew, and even elephants in rural areas.

Rail transport in Thailand

Hua Lamphong Railway Station.
ASR (Class 158 Express Sprinter).

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) operates 4,070 km of 1.000 m gauge railway line (372.63 km double track and 106.01 km triple track).

The SRT operates all of Thailand's national rail lines. Bangkok Railway Station (Hua Lamphong Station) is the main terminus of all routes. Phahonyothin and ICD Lat Krabang are the main freight terminals.

The SRT has long been popularly perceived by the public as inefficient and resistant to change. Trains are usually late, and most of its equipment is old and poorly maintained. The worst financially performing state enterprise, the SRT consistently operates at a loss despite being endowed with large amounts of property and receiving large government budgets; it reported a preliminary loss of 7.58 billion baht in 2010.[1] Recurring government attempts at restructuring and/or privatization throughout the 2000s have always been strongly opposed by the union and have not made any progress.[2][3]

Rail transport in Bangkok

Bangkok is the location of Hua Lamphong Railway Station, the main terminus of the national rail network operated by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT). Trains travelling on the Northern Line to Chiang Mai, the Northeastern Line to Nong Khai and Ubon Ratchathani, and the Eastern Line to Aranyaprathet originate at the station, and so do some trains of the Southern Line, which terminates at Su-ngai Kolok and has a connection to Malaysia (the other Southern terminus is Thonburi). In addition to long-distance services, the SRT also operates a few daily commuter trains running from and to the outskirts of the city during the rush hour, but passenger numbers have remained low.

Rail links to adjacent countries

Rail rapid transit systems

Bangkok Skytrain exterior at Mo Chit BTS Station.
Bangkok Metro at Si Lom MRT Station.

Bangkok Metropolitan Region

In Bangkok, the Skytrain is operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Company Limited (BTSC) under a concession granted by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) but the investment for the structure and system were fully supported by BTSC.

The underground system is operated by Bangkok Metro Company Limited (BMCL), while whole project investments were shared by Mass Rapid Transit Authorities (MRTA) and BMCL, which all civil structures was provided by government sector and the system was provided by private sector (BMCL). The deal of contract between BMCL and MRTA are under the concession agreement for 25 years operation.

Bangkok is currently (2015) served by three rapid transit systems:

Khon Kaen

In March 2016, government approved first tram project in Khon Kaen province where it would be their first private sector lead. The first phase of project will be North-South route with range of 26 km. Previously, it is used to be planned for BRT (bus rapid transit system) route. OTP (Office of Transport and Traffic Policy) would funding the project study for Khon Kaen University with 38 million baht. The Khon-Kaenpattanmong as private company will be main investor in the project and responsible for operation of network. Also, the structure for collecting network's revenue deems to share similarity with early day of BTS network. The project is expected for 8 months in study and begin its construction in 2017 for completion within next 1-2 years. For phase1, budget spending in this new network could be cost for 1.5 billion baht.[5]

Other Provinces

Road transport in Thailand

Thai public bus service

Buses are a major method of transportation for people, freight, and small parcels, and are the most popular means of long distance travel. Tour and VIP class long-distance buses tend to be luxurious, while city- and other-class buses are often very colorful with paint schemes and advertising.

There are fundamentally two types of long-distance buses in Thailand:

Public bus service in Bangkok

An air conditioned BMTA bus, one type of public bus services in Bangkok.

In Bangkok, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority or BMTA, is a main operator of public transit buses within Greater Bangkok area. The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority offers bus and van routes throughout the city and its suburban provinces. Many bus routes in bangkok are run as co-buses by various private companies. Even many of the routes shown here also may have co-buses in addition to those from BMTA. Examples are the orange minibuses, and the cream-blue buses. The buses have the BMTA symbol on them, mostly seen below the driver's side window. These often follow slightly different routings from the main big BMTA-bus or do not run along the whole route.

BMTA currently operates the following bus routes in Bangkok and its metropolitan area namely Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon and Nakhon Pathom.

Local buses and Bangkok city buses come in various sizes, types, and prices, from half size, full size, double length, open window, fan, and air conditioned.

Bus rapid transit system in Bangkok
Main article: Bangkok BRT
A Bangkok BRT bus at the Sathon terminus

The Bangkok BRT is a bus rapid transit system in Bangkok. Of five routes that were originally planned, only one line has been operating since 2010, with the other routes either cancelled or expected to be cancelled. The 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) route has twelve stations in the centre of the road that give at grade access to the right hand side of the buses. Both termini connect to the Silom Line of the BTS Skytrain; at Chong Nonsi (S3) and at the newly opened Talat Phlu (S10). The buses used are all Sunlong SLK6125CNG buses. The flat fare is 5 baht.

Thai highway network

An overview map of Bangkok's expressway system.
Main article: Thai highway network

The Thai highway network links every part of Thailand. The four-lane highways often have overhead concrete pedestrian crossings interspersed about every 250 meters in populated areas. There are few on and off ramps on some eight-lane highways, most highways are separated by median with breakage for U-turns, except on major roads where ramp style U-turns predominate.

A number of undivided two-lane highways have been converted into divided four-lane highways and most highways are in good state of repair, greatly enhancing safety and speed. A Bangkok - Chon Buri motorway (Route 7) now links to the new airport and Eastern Seaboard.

Thai motorway network

Main article: Thai motorway network

The Thai motorway network is small. Coupled with Bangkok's extensive expressway network, the motorways provide a relief from regular traffic in Bangkok. The Thai Government is planning infrastructure investment in various "megaprojects", including motorway expansion to approximately 4,500 kilometers.

Thai expressway network

Thailand uses the expressway term for the toll road or highway network. Most of expressways are elevated with some sections on the ground level. The current expressway network covers major parts of Bangkok and suburban areas. Expressways are used to avoid heavy traffic jams in Bangkok and reduce traffic time, but are sometimes congested in rush hour.

Alternative transport

Includes tuk-tuk, taxi, van (minibus), motorbike taxi, songthaew, boats (in canals and rivers).

Air transport

Airports

Main article: List of airports in Thailand and Busiest airports in Thailand
A Boeing 747-400 of the national carrier Thai Airways.
Suvarnabhumi Airport, Thailand.

Major international airports

With paved runways

With unpaved runways

Heliports

Airlines of Thailand

Main article: List of airlines of Thailand

Waterways

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market in Ratchaburi Province

River and canal transport

In Bangkok, the Chao Phraya River is a major transportation artery, with ferries, water taxis (the Chao Phraya Express Boat) and long-tailed boats. There are local, semi express, and express lines for commuters, though the river winds a lot, which can make the trip much farther than by bus. There is also the Khlong Saen Saeb boat service, which provides fast, inexpensive transport in central Bangkok.

Ferries

Ferry service between hundreds of islands and the mainland is available, as well as across navigable rivers, such as Chao Phraya and Mae Khong (Mekong). There are a number of international ferries.

Ports and harbors

Merchant marine

Pipelines

See also

References

  1. ↑ Chantanusornsiri, Wichit (23 January 2012). "State railway to finally account for assets and liabilities". Bangkok Post.
  2. ↑ Mahitthirook, Amornrat; Marukatat, Saritdet (22 December 2010). "Getting on track needs strong political will". Bangkok Post.
  3. ↑ Bowring, Philip (23 October 2009). "Thailand's Railways: Wrong Track". Asia Sentinel. Asia Sentinel. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "Neighbours to the west get closer". Bangkok Post. 2012-02-28. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
  5. ↑ http://www.posttoday.com/biz/gov/421979
  6. ↑ "Home". The Transport Co., Ltd. Retrieved 2015-01-10.

External links

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.

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