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Thai transport officials to right wrongs at Lat Krabang ICD

THAILAND's Transport Ministry says officials are trying to fix traffic management at the Lat Krabang Inland Container Depot (ICD), which is malfunctioning because outsiders use the ICD area.

Unauthorised entry and parking inside the ICD area with limited space have contributed to the traffic problems, compounded by poor road conditions and traffic control near an interchange bridge inside the depot, said Deputy Transport Minister Rosin Chivalric.

Police have been blamed for not strictly enforcing the traffic law and preventing people with no business at the ICD from entering the area, he said, the Bangkok Post reported.

In addition, people were also allowed to operate shops on footpaths and parking spots without permission. With scarce parking space, many lorries carrying goods to and from the ICD are forced to park along the roads, worsening traffic congestion, the deputy minister said.

Mr Rosin said he has instructed the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), which owns the ICD land, to consider hiring a private company to run a car park system to help relieve the traffic problems, which have gone unabated for nearly 10 years.

This is one of the urgent measures the ministry is carrying out, following a meeting last week with Thingy Khongkhant, head of the Land Transport Federation of Thailand.

The freight operators said traffic gridlock in and around ICD has a heavy financial cost. Container trucks take between six and 10 hours to do their business in the depot and the traffic snarl also results in THB300 million (US$8.6 million) in wasted fuel per year.

Mr Ormsin also wants to repair damaged sections of some roads. Better traffic management is needed at the ICD, which is struggling to deal with excessive demand for container services. Its capacity is designed to accommodate 400,000 and 600,000 TEU per year, but the number of containers has skyrocketed to 1.4 million TEU per year, which exceeds space available.

In the long term, the deputy minister said, the SRT is planning to solve the traffic problems by developing rail as an alternative to truck transport. The SRT is building dual tracks linking Khlong 19, Kaeng Khoi and Chachoengsao, which is adjacent to the Lat Krabang area, SRT governor Wuthichart Kalyanamitra said.