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Thailand Ports and Shipping
The country's preeminent port was Bangkok, which in the early
1980s handled 98 percent of imports and 65 percent of exports as
well as about 40 percent of coastal traffic. More than 4,000
foreign vessels were reported to have called at Bangkok in 1983,
and about 24 million tons of cargo were handled, including
coastal cargo. Two other ports of some significance in
international trade were Si Racha and Sattahip, both located
southeast of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand. Both ports were
used primarily for exporting agricultural products. Sattahip's
deep-water naval facility was also used to handle imports of
heavy equipment.
The port of Bangkok had experienced continuous growth since
the 1950s, and, through loans from the World Bank, its facilities
had been substantially expanded to handle the increased traffic.
A major drawback of the port was its limitation on vessel size
and draft, which forced ships of more than 10,000 tons or 8.5-
meter draft to offload at the mouth of the Chao Phraya, some 27
kilometers downstream. As part of the Eastern Seaboard
Development Program, the government in 1986 approved plans to
build a new deep-water port at Laem Chabang in Chon Buri Province
to supplement Bangkok's Khlong Toei port. An industrial estate
was to be built close to the port area for export-oriented
industries, such as electronics, and for agro-based industries,
such as food processing and rubber products. Under the same
program, a new port and industrial park was to be constructed at
Mapthaphut to serve the petrochemical, fertilizer, and soda ash
industries.
Some thirty smaller ports were found along the Gulf of
Thailand and the Andaman Sea. About half were fishing ports, and
the remainder served multiple purposes, including coastal
services, export and import functions, and fisheries operations.
Coastal operations were in general small. In the early 1980s, the
government also had under consideration development of deep-water
ports at Songkhla on the east coast of the peninsula, through
which rubber was exported, and Phuket on the west coast. Phuket
served as an outlet for both tin and rubber exports.
In 1985 the Thai merchant fleet consisted of 71 freighters, 2
bulk carriers, and 25 tankers, totaling roughly 700,000 tons.
Regular cargo service was provided between Thailand and Japan,
and one shipping company made regular calls at West European
ports. An unknown number of small coastal vessels conducted trade
with Malaysia and Singapore.
Data as of September 1987
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