THE DEVELOPMENT DOMESTIV TERMINALS OF LAEMCHABANG PORT PHASE 3

Abstract

            The objectives of this research were to study 1) problems, obstacles, and factors affecting the development of domestic cargo ports, and 2) guidelines for developing domestic cargo ports, which supported the transportation of goods by coastal ships and transport ships in the Laemchabang Port Phase 3 areas. The analysis of internal factors and external factors (SWOT Analysis) were conducted. Data were obtained from executives and operators involved in port operation who answered an open-ended questionnaire, 3 of whom were specifically selected and 15 of whom were selected by a 5-level rating scale type. The opinions obtained from the open-ended questionnaires concerning the current domestic freight transport situation and development of a domestic cargo terminal in the Laem Chabang Port Phase 3 areas were then analyzed. The statistics used in data analysis included mean and standard deviation.

            It was found that the rating level of service users on all 4 factors, namely, the factor of wharf services, factors in the operation of cargo lifting tools, product operations factors, and financial and other factors, were at a high level of 4.10, 4.00, 4.03 and 3.71, respectively. Strengths and opportunities included having infrastructure and back-port areas that could be linked with multimodal transport to transport goods to various destinations within the country. Weak points and obstacles included rules, regulations and rules of the Port Authority of Thailand that were not conducive to a competitive business environment. These made it impossible to create business alliances. Besides, the current burden rates that have not yet been changed to the burden rate structure according to the Cabinet announcement in 1991 and the information technology system could not connect to private operators. As a result, the data could not be used to manage and solve various problems effectively.