Thailand transportation infrastructure performance and the economics : Measurement and relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the performance of transportation infrastructure of Thailand. A set of performance indicators of Thailand’s transportation infrastructure is proposed and gathered. The relationship between existing transportation infrastructure performance and Thailand’s economy is investigated. Design/methodology/approach The framework for determining Transportation Infrastructure Performance Index (TPI), proposed by the US Chamber of Commerce, is adapted for assessing the efficiency of Thailand’s transportation infrastructure. The analytical hierarchy process is employed in the process of constructing Thailand TPI. The relationship between TPI and Thailand’s economic growth is examined using multiple regression analysis. Findings The performance of Thailand’s transportation infrastructure had been continuously increased from 19.69 in 2005 to 61.52 in 2010. Great emphasis on improvement of the transportation infrastructure system should be placed as an increase in one unit of TPI results in the improvement by Baht449.420 of Thailand’s GDP per capita. Research limitations/implications The most critical issue arisen in the data collection process is the unavailability of data for some indicators in the TPI framework. Consequently, some indicators that contain insufficient data were excluded. Practical implications The proposed set of indicators is practical and instrumental in assessing the transportation infrastructure performance of Thailand, and investigating its relationship with the economy. Originality/value This research proposes a framework for quantifying the performance of transportation infrastructure, and develops the first national composite index to account for the overall performance.