Thailand: PM Supports Laem Chabang Port Development

The Laem Chabang Port in Chon Buri province has proposed the third phase of its logistics development to facilitate goods transport and cope with the growth of Thailand’s eastern seaboard.

Transport Minister Jarupong Ruangsuwan presented a briefing on logistics development at Laem Chabang to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who visited the port as part of the fifth mobile Cabinet meeting in Pattaya on 18-19 June 2012.

He said that the third phase would be completed in the next five years, and when completed, the project would increase the port’s capacity of accommodating 18.8 million freight containers annually in 20 years’ time.

According to the Transport Minister, the construction of a major road linking the Laem Chabang Port with the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong is also being planned, together with the building of a double-track railway from Laem Chabang to Chachoengsao province.

A budget of 120 billion baht will be required for the expansion of several transport network projects to enhance the potential of Laem Chabang, the main deep-sea port of Thailand and a major gateway in Southeast Asia for goods transport by sea.

The Ministry of Transport reaffirmed that the Dawei deep-sea port and industrial estate development in Myanmar would not affect the operations of the Laem Chabang Port.

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Dredging Today Staff, June 19, 2012