Announcement of 3.4 Million Dollars Loan to Port Authority of Thailand on October 12, 1956

FOR IMMED-IATE RELEASE WOIILD • INTERNATIONAL BAN RECONSTRU 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON 25, D. C. TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 -·-----------------------------------------------· PRESS RELEASE NO. 461 Su13JECT: $3.4 million loan to Port Authority of October 12, 1956 Thailand. The World Bank today made a loan of $3.4 mlilion to the Port Authority of Thailand to finance the purchase of three dredges, and auxiliary equiprr.ent, to be operated in the channel leaoing to the Port of I3angkok and in the harbor. The First Natio:r.al City BanJ: of Hew York is participating in the loan, ·without the World Bank's guarantee, to the extent of $184.,000 representing • the first two matur.:..ties falling due August 1958 and February 1959 • This is the second loan made by the Bank for the development of the Port of Bangkok. Part of a ~4.4 million loan made to the Government in 1950 was used to deepen and widen a channel through a sandbar at the mouth of the Chao Phya Riv-er. The charinel was completed in January 1954, and now ocean- going vessels of up to 10,000 dead weight tons are able to reach the port. The smrings in handling costs and lighterage fees are substantial -- an important factor in the Thai economy since Bangkok handles the bulk of Thai• land's foreign trade. It is essential that the Port Authority have adequate dredging equipment to maintain sufficient depth of water in the bar channel and in the harbor. Orders for the equipment financed by the Bank were placed on the basis of international bidding; one of the dredges is alreacy in operation and the • others will be delivered in late 1957 • The Government established the Port Authority of Thailand as an autonomous agency in 1951 and in the past five years the Authority has consigerably  - 2 .. improved port operations. The Port Authority will itself carry out dredging in the harbor, and h~s engaged foreign contractors to carry out the dredging in the bar channel for the next two years. The contractors will train Thai personnel in dredging operations so that the work may be taken over by the Thais as soon as practicable. The Bank's loan is for a term of 15 years and bears interest of 4-3/4% including the 1% conunission charged by the Bank. The loan is guaran- teed by the Kingdom of Thailand. The Bank has now made five loans totaling ~40.8 million in Thailand. L~ addition to $7.8 million for the Port of Bangkok, $15 million was lent for rehabilitation of the railro.~ds and $18 million for the irrigation of the Central Plain. After ha-ving been approved by the Bank's Executive Directors, the loan • documents were signed on October 12, 19.56 by His Excellency, Nai Pote Sarasin, Ambassador for Thailand in Washington, ori behalf of the Kingdom of Thailand., by M.R. Thuaithep Devakul., Minister of Embassy.,) on behalf of the Port Authority of Thailand, and by W.A.B. Iliff, Vice President, on behalf of the World Bank.