Thailand road development planning

A group of experts from Thailand have been visiting the UK to research methods that would help boost road development. The planning and engineering team from Thailand’s Department of Rural Roads (DRR) have been holding meetings with UK counterparts about adopting a scheme similar to its Highways Authority Approval Scheme (HAPAS). The DRR has the responsibility for over 47,700km of Thailand’s 396,600km road network, upgrading paved and earth roads and delivering bridge projects. This is intended to boost so
May 2, 2019 Read time: 3 mins
A group of experts from Thailand have been visiting the UK to research methods that would help boost road development. The planning and engineering team from Thailand’s Department of Rural Roads (DRR) have been holding meetings with UK counterparts about adopting a scheme similar to its Highways Authority Approval Scheme (HAPAS).


The DRR has the responsibility for over 47,700km of Thailand’s 396,600km road network, upgrading paved and earth roads and delivering bridge projects. This is intended to boost social, economic and tourism related activities. The department is pushing ahead with improvements in the quality and consistency of highway construction. The DRR delegation says it is keen to understand how the UK agrees standards and certificates new and innovate highway construction products.

“If we don’t have the right standards local governments will use many products and the quality of these products will not be consistent,” Chakree Bamrumgwong, DRR director of Office of Road Safety Audit, explained. “Some will be good and some will be not so good so we want to standardise it. It is very useful to learn.”

The DRR now intends to work towards establishing a scheme similar to HAPAS: “The DRR needs to set up a highways material standard like HAPAS for the quality control of the material and products used in Thailand’s rural and local roads. We learned a lot about the HAPAS system and other useful information, all of which supports our thinking to do more for the future,” said Mr Bamrumgwong.

The DRR has a 10 year plan to centralise and standardise highways specifications. At present it utilises predominantly American standards for highway product specification and design and, where they prove insufficient, looks to other international standards - including British Standards - to translate into its projects. The department also intends to take the lead on encouraging all agencies involved in the Thai road network to collaborate in a further move to drive up product and safety standards.

While in the UK, the DRR representatives also visited the Department for Transport’s Local Transport Group, 8100 Highways England, the National Traffic Operation Centre and the Nottingham Transportation Engineering Centre, where a Memorandum of Understanding for technical co-operation between the DRR and NTEC was signed.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Registrations for the senior road executive programme are open
    March 8, 2016
    IRF Geneva is renewing the long-standing collaboration with the University of Birmingham for the promotion of the senior road executives (SRE) Programme which has been delivering certified professional training for 20 years This programme has provided continuing professional development for those working in the road sector for over 20 years, and by so doing, contributed to the dissemination of knowledge and expertise throughout the world. Using an inter-disciplinary approach, the programme is designe
    Read More
  • Better asset management will reduce costs and improve efficiency
    August 22, 2013
    The FEHRL Infrastructure Research Meeting 2013 (FIRM 2013) raised key issues in transport innovation The key theme for FIRM 13 was advanced and innovative construction and maintenance, highlighting the importance of efficient asset management. Infravation, or infrastructure innovation, was another focus area for the event. Joris Al, FEHRL president said, “We aim to bring interested parties together. We’ve decided to build on existing knowledge rather than starting with front edge technologies and working
    Read More
  • LiuGong loaders successful in Thailand
    October 3, 2014
    LiuGong claims to have retained its market leader position as Thailand’s top wheeled loader provider for the third consecutive year. The manufacturing juggernaut for extreme duty equipment entered the Thai market in 2011 and has sold 1,500 wheeled loaders in three years. President of LiuGong Machinery Asia Pacific Mr Chen Hao attributed the success to the brand’s consistent focus in understanding the wheeled loader industry’s needs and delivering products that are innovative, reliable and durable. L
    Read More
  • International Road Federation has partnered with RAI Intertraffic
    April 1, 2016
    Delegates experience IRF training at world’s largest road fair The International Road Federation has partnered with RAI Intertraffic, the organiser of the world’s largest road fair, to hold complimentary training workshops open to all visitors. A pilot course on roadside hazard identification and management introduced during Intertraffic Istanbul in 2015 received very positive feedback and has now been expanded to four introductory courses on a wider range of topics made available to all Intertraffic Ams
    Read More

Highlighted Content