Transport in Thailand : lessons for institutional development

The World Bank has founded 25 transportation projects in Thailand since 1950. An OED Performance audit report, by Antti Talvitie, of five of these projects, approved between 1983 and 1990, found that they successfully upgraded rural transport infrastructure, rehabilitated roads, improved road maintenance, relieved congestion, and began to improve road safety and to reduce emissions and noise. All the operations were preceded by prior projects, a number of studies, and lengthy dialogue between the Bank and the government. But policy dialogue was not very effective and institutional development was modest. The study recommends that the Bank intensify the policy content of its cooperation with Thailand to develop a satisfactory institutional and policy framework for the transport sector.