ADB identifies transport shortcomings.

NAY PYI TAW, MYANMAR, 26 October 2012: Myanmar’s broken and neglected transport sector needs a top-to-bottom overhaul to prepare for an expected boom in demand for quality roads, railways, airports and transport services in coming years, says a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) study.

“For the benefits of Myanmar’s anticipated growth to reach people in all corners of the country, its network of roads, railways, inland waterways and airports will need a coordinated path to improvement,” said ADB Transport and Communications Division in the Southeast Asia Department director, James Lynch.

“This is vital not only for the country’s development, from the cities to the remote rural areas, but also to transform the country into a land bridge linking Southeast Asia and South Asia.”

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Bangkok’s taxi fares unchanged

BANGKOK, 17 May 2012: Taxi fares in the Thai capital will remain unchanged for another three months according to the Ministry of Transport’s Department of Land Transport, following a delay in a proposed NGV and LPG price hike.

The department deputy general director, Jirut Wisarnjit, said the postponement was in line with an Energy Policy Administration Committee (EPAC) decision.

“Taxi operators will keep the Bt35 flag down for the time being,” he said.

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PM accelerates high-speed train

BANGKOK, 26 April 2012: The Ministry of Transport hopes to set up a supervisory committee on high-speed train development led by Prime Minister Yingluck who will act as its chairperson.

She has promised to fast track decisions a declaration that might add an element of speed to a project that has almost ground to a halt.

The ministry vows that at least one high-speed train line will open before the current government’s terms ends in about three and a half years.

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London readies for Olympic stress

LONDON, 19 April 2012: Packed into a subway train that has broken down, or stuck in gridlocked traffic, it’s easy to spot one key aspect of London’s 2012 Olympic Games that is causing organisers sleepless nights.

Despite seven years of planning and a colossal budget, transport remains the Achilles heel of preparations that otherwise seem to be progressing well at the 100-day mark to go before the opening ceremony on 27 July.

“Keeping the capital moving smoothly during the Games will be nothing short of a Herculean task,” the London Assembly, which oversees the work of the mayor, warned last month.

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Drive to reduce Songkran carnage

BANGKOK, 26 March 2012: The Ministry of Transport is promising free car inspection until 12 April in an attempt to cut the horrific accident rate that piles up during the annual Songkran festival.

More people die on Thailand’s road during the four-day holiday than during a comparable time-frame in war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

Car drivers can expect to encounter police checkpoints and recently introduced speed cameras as officials tackle dangerous driving mainly caused through excessive consumption of alcohol by both drivers and passengers.

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End of line for Sydney’s monorail

Sydney, 23 March 2012: A controversial monorail in Sydney popular with tourists but unloved by locals is to be pulled down, the state government announced Friday.

The monorail’s 15-minute loop takes in Darling Harbour as well as Chinatown and the city’s main Pitt Street retail area. It transports more than 3 million people a year, half of them tourists.

But it has never been embraced by Sydneysiders and New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell said the government had bought the company that owns it and would close it down.

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Trang pier poses problems

TRANG, 22 March 2012: A pier used by tourism operators to transfer clients to Trang’s famous islands is in bad shape and requires urgent repairs.

Pak Meng pier in Trang province needs urgent repairs, or a replacement, but officials admit nothing is being done as it is located in a national park area.

Trang Tourism Association president, Prateep Jongthong, said that there are just too many tourists heading for the islands and Pak Meng pier is inconvenient and poses problems for tour operators.

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New bus service to Laos

BANGKOK, 2 March 2012: The Transport Co Ltd, under the Ministry of Transport, kicks off its ninth bus route, Friday, linking Thailand and Laos between Udon Thani province in the northeast and Vang Vieng, a resort town in Vientiane province, Laos.

A second-class air-conditioned bus with 46 seats will be used on the route until traffic warrants an upgrade in quality.

The service departs daily at 0700 from Udon Thani with a brief stop in Nong Khai to pick up passengers before heading to the First Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge to clear immigration. The seven-hour trip continue to to Vang Vieng a distance of 166 km from the Lao capital. It arrives at 1400. Read more

ADT attacks BMTA on tour sales

BANGKOK, 19 August 2011 – The Association of Domestic Travel has requested that Minister of Tourism and Sports, Chumpol Silapa-acha, hold talks with the Minister of Transport, Air Chief Marshal Sukampol Suwannathat, to halt Bangkok Mass Transit Authority’s tour sales that compete head on with the private sector.

ADT president, Maiyarat Pheerayakoses, said Mr Chumpol should step in and solve this “chronic problem” because BMTA, the main operator of public bus services in Bangkok, is actively selling domestic tours without holding a tour operator or tour guide’s license. Read more

Storm abates in North Thailand

BANGKOK, 5 August 2011 – Seven people have died in flooding across northern Thailand caused by the tail end of tropical storm Nock-ten, which left more than 60 people dead in the Philippines, officials said Thursday.

Rising waters affected the livelihoods of almost half a million people, with 16 provinces inundated since last week, Thailand’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said.

Twelve people were injured and four remain missing in floods and mudslides caused by unusually heavy rain across north and northeastern parts of Thailand due to Nock-ten, which has been downgraded to a depression, the department added. Read more

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