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Thailand Roads
Extensive development of the road network did not start until
after World War II. By the 1980s, however, roads were the most
important part of the transportation system. Before the war the
few existing roads had been intended primarily as feeders to the
railroad system, which had been built largely with foreign funds
that needed to be repaid. Profit from rail transportation was
vital, and the construction of competing roads was deemed
uneconomic. From the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, however,
substantial United States aid was provided, along with technical
assistance, to develop a national highway system that by 1965
totaled almost 9,500 kilometers. Thereafter, assistance for
highway development came mainly from the World Bank, although in
the late 1960s United States military forces also furnished
substantial funds for road construction.
In the 1980s, the primary road system consisted of a net of
national highways that started at Bangkok and extended in all
directions to the country's frontiers. They totaled about 20,000
kilometers, of which well over 90 percent were paved. Provincial
roads totaling over 24,000 kilometers formed a secondary system
that tied provincial towns and population centers to the national
roads. About two-fifths were unimproved and often impassable
during rainy weather. In addition to the main and provincial
roads, there were tertiary roads--consisting of village roads,
footpaths, tracks, and the like--variously estimated at from
40,000 to 60,000 kilometers. These roads and trails were
important because they represented in many cases the only link
between a village or hamlet and the provincial system or possibly
a railroad stop or inland waterway point. Several thousand
kilometers of tertiary roads had been improved, but in general
they were poorly maintained. Their administration was spread over
a number of government agencies, in contrast to national and
provincial roads, which were administered by the Department of
Highways in the Ministry of Communications.
In the early 1980s, no restrictions existed on the
importation of motor vehicles, although taxes and duties on
imported vehicles were higher as a measure to protect the
domestic automobile assembly industry. Under guidelines set in
1986, local automobile assembly plants were required to use at
least 54 percent domestic parts. Motor vehicles registered in
1984 included 688,000 automobiles, 600,000 commercial vehicles,
and nearly 2
million motorcycles. In the 1980s, about a third of all vehicles
registered were in the Bangkok metropolitan area, but this
included almost two-thirds of the automobiles. The relatively
massive concentration of trucks, buses, and automobiles in the
capital area regularly created enormous traffic jams.
Construction of an elevated expressway was under way, the first
part of which had been completed by the early 1980s.
Data as of September 1987
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