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

  • Breaking with Indeco hammers
    April 16, 2018
    Contractor New Hampshire Rock Reduction is using hydraulic hammers from Indeco for rock breaking and excavation duties. The firm says that it selected these units so as to optimise productivity and has used the breakers in quarrying as well as site development applications. Located in the northeast corner of the US, New Hampshire is one of the country’s smallest states. Noted for a rocky terrain, New Hampshire’s geology includes a heavy presence of metamorphic, especially igneous, rock formations, which yi
    Read More
  • New non-destructive testing technologies for roads and bridges
    July 11, 2018
    Two new technologies for non-destructive testing offer key benefits, one suiting road surfaces, the other suiting concrete structures - Kristina Smith reports Dynatest has developed a new way to measure and record the state of pavements, using a machine that travels at the same speed as traffic. The Rapid Pavement Tester (Raptor) has been seven years in the making and offers road owners the chance to have comprehensive surveys without the need to disrupt traffic. “People have been wanting to do this for
    Read More
  • CONTROLS has developed a new business strategy
    April 4, 2013
    With the European economy in crisis and continuing shifts in the world order, manufacturers must re-think their business strategies if they are to succeed. Seasoned survivor Pasquale di Iorio, CEO of construction testing equipment specialist CONTROLS Group shares his plans for the future - Kristina Smith met him in Italy Pasquale Di Iorio has been at the helm of construction testing equipment manufacturer CONTROLS Group since 1996. First impressions suggest that Di Iorio is a strong leader: confidently dete
    Read More
  • The hands-free debate is just one side of driver distraction
    August 13, 2019
    A debate about hands-free and hand-held phone use is welcome, but if we want to improve road safety and stop killing people it misses the point, explains Shaun Helman, TRL's chief scientist The Transport Committee’s report on driving and mobile phones is to be welcomed, for focusing attention on a pressing and growing road safety issue. As someone who provided evidence to the committee, I don’t need convincing that the use of a mobile device while controlling a vehicle is something that must be considered
    Read More

Highlighted Content