The World Bank Group in Thailand

THE World Bank Group IN THAILAND INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION January 1967  BASIC STATISTICS AREA: 200,000 square miles POPULATION: Total ( Mid-1966 estimate) 32.9 million Rate of growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3% per annum GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: Total ( 1965) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . US$3.838 billion Rate of growth ( 1960-1965) . . . . . . . 7 .1 % per annum Per capita ( 1965) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . US$120 CONTRIBUTION TO GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 % Manufacturing, mining, construction 20% All other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 % CURRENCY EQUIVALENT: US$1 = 20.8 Bahts (B) THE WORLD BANK GROUP IN THAILAND I anuary 1967 THE ECONOMIC PROGRESS made by Thailand in the last few years has been impressive. Supported by a strong de- mand abroad for Thailand's export products, especially rice, corn, kenaf, tin and tapioca, and favorable weather conditions for the main crops, real output rose by 71/2 % a year between 1961 and 1965. This rate of growth was 50% higher than in the 1957-61 period. By 1965, income per head in the country was one-fourth higher than in 1957, despite a rapid increase in population which averaged 3.3% a year. Rapidly rising exports, plus a sharp rise in domestic savings, have enabled the economy to support a steep increase in invest- ment. As a proportion of Thailand's Gross Domestic Product, investment within the economy rose from 16 per cent in 1957 to 22 per cent in 1965. This was achieved with no more than a marginal rise in the nation's resource gap (the gap between domestic savings and total capital formation within the econ- omy )-a remarkable feat for a country which, despite fast growth, is still relatively poor, with an average per capita in- come of $120 a year. An important factor behind the growth of real income and savings in recent years has been the capacity of the agricul- tural sector to generate a surplus for export above domestic consumption needs. Rice production has increased sharply since 1961, due to improved water control and irrigation facili- ties, particularly in the Central Plain area, as well as to the introduction of higher yielding seed varieties and, to some ex- tent, to the increased use of fertilizers. However, in addition to the rise in the export surplus available from rice, Thailand's main crop, a significant factor in the agricultural sector's con- tribution to the economy has been the movement towards diversification in its production for export. Commodities such as corn, kenaf and cassava, which were relatively insignificant as export earners in earlier years, have emerged as substantial new strands in the country's agricultural export pattern. Water 1 control and irrigation facilities now being extended in the Cen- tral Plain area are expected to increase the irrigated land area by 30 per cent by 1971, thus allowing the current growth and diversification of agricultural production to continue in the years immediately ahead. The rapid rise in Thailand's agricultural output has been reflected in the growth of agriculture-based industries such as rice-milling, sugar-refining, saw-milling, tobacco-manufactur- ing and brewing. At the same time, the establishment of new industries like pharmaceuticals, cement, glass and paint prod- ucts, and car assembly has broadened the scope of manufac- turing. Conditions are favorable for expansion in other fields: in rubber and paper products, cotton textiles, the manufacture of fertilizers and in a large range of consumer goods. The World Bank has been associated with the Thai economy during these years of substantial development. Technical ad- vice and assistance provided by the Bank Group at Thailand's request have probably been as important a contribution to Thailand's growth as the finance provided by way of Bank loans and through investments by the Bank's affiliate, the In- ternational Finance Corporation ( IFC). Bank assistance to Thailand of a non-financial nature has ranged from help in the preparation of individual projects to general guidance in planning for the development of the economy as a whole. Direct financial assistance to Thai development from the World Bank Group has been concentrated on assistance to the building of basic infrastructure-roads, dams, irrigation works , electricity, rail transport and port facilities-without which the upsurge in production and commercial activity now under way could not have occurred. The first loans to the country were made in October 1950, and these were also the Bank's first loans in South East Asia. By December 1966, the Bank had made 16 loans totaling more than US$234 million equivalent, net of cancellations, for proj- ects in Thailand. Three loans have been made to rehabilitate and modernize the railway system ; four have been to finance irrigation projects, and two to help open the Port of Bangkok to 2 larger ships. Two other loans are financing improvements in the country's highway system and three are meeting part of the cost of the Yanhee multipurpose project, one of the largest projects in the region. One loan made jointly with an in- vestment by the Bank's affiliate, the International Finance Corporation, has added to the resources of the Industrial Finance Corporation of Thailand ( IFCT), which provides medium and long-term finance for private industry in the country. In October 1966, the World Bank entered the field of investment for education in Thailand with a loan for voca- tional education and teacher training. AGRICULTURE, ELECTRIC POWER AND FLOOD CONTROL In 1955, rice production in Thailand was about 7 .2 million tons. It has since increased by more than a third. This increase has enabled Thailand not only to meet domestic demand in- creases generated by population growth but also to increase substantially the surplus of rice available for export. Rice now accounts for slightly more than one-third of the country's foreign exchange earnings from merchandise exports. While rice will continue as Thailand's main crop, diversifica- tion of Thailand's agricultural output is proceeding rapidly. The production of corn, kenaf and cassava has increased at a high rate during the past five years. In the period through 1971, the terminal year of Thailand's Second Plan, further substantial increases in Thailand's agricultural output should be possible. Facilities now under construction are expected to increase irrigated land by 1.3 million acres by 1971, while improved water control systems being constructed in the Chao Phya area will facilitate use of fertilizer and double cropping in one of the most fertile areas of the country. The sharp increase in rice production in the sixties has been achieved largely by expansion of irrigated areas, particularly in the Central Plain. The Bank has cooperated closely with Thailand in the development program which has helped to produce this upsurge in output. 3  The first phase of the program to increase control and pro- ductive use of the waters in the Central Plain area-which accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the country's total culti- vated land-was the construction of the Chainat diversion dam on the Chao Phya River and the installation of a system of main canals. This work permitted some regulation of the river and its tributaries and the diversion of the waters for irrigation, flood control, navigation and hydroelectric power. 4 The Bank assisted the project with an $18 million loan-one of the first the Bank made in Southeast Asia. The second phase of the program, partially financed by a Bank loan of $66 million committed in September 1957, was the multipurpose Yanhee project involving the construc- tion of the Bhumiphol Dam on the Ping River, the westernmost tributary of the Chao Phya River. Completed in 1964, the Bhumiphol Dam is now providing hydroelectric power and water control, is reducing the hazard from floods and is permitting the storage of the monsoon flows for use in the dry season. The dam itself rises 500 feet above the bed of the Ping River and creates a reservoir capable of storing 12 billion cubic meters of water. The hydro power production capacity of the project is a major part of its benefits. With the economy expanding rapidly, power requirements are estimated to have increased at a rate above 15 per cent a year in recent years and the Yanhee ca- pacity has been an important factor in meeting this growth in demand. In the first stage of the project, two 70,000-kilowatt generators were installed in the Yanhee power station and these went into operation in 1964. Space for the addition of six more units was provided and in March 1965 the Bank made a loan of $6 million to help finance the addition of two more 70,000-kilowatt power generators at the dam. Along with the installation of new generating capacity at Yanhee, work was begun on an improved transmission system. A major power grid was installed to supply power to 14 com- munities between the dam and Bangkok, 260 miles to the southeast. To enlarge the area served by the Yanhee Electricity Authority-an independent government agency set up in 1957 to operate the Yanhee project and all large power generating plants and transmission facilities in central Thailand-the Bank extended another loan of $6.6 million in March 1963. This went toward the financing of a second high-voltage circuit between Yanhee and Bangkok, together with 446 miles of transmission lines to serve 11 additional towns in central Thailand. 5  Another dimension of the Yanhee project's benefits is the substantial expansion of irrigation capacity it has permitted. The water stored in the 130-mile long reservoir equals half the storage of all the 22 reservoirs of the TVA system in the United States. It is estimated that up to 534,400 acres of land in the Chao Phya area can be provided with water from the Bhumi- phol reservoir during the dry season to permit intensification of agricultural output on this highly productive area. Assisting increased agricultural productivity, too, are the flood control aspects of the Yanhee project. The Bhumiphol Dam controls the flow of the Ping River and has reduced the annual flood crest to a point where flood damage to the large developed areas of paddy field and farmlands in the Central Plain is lessened. In addition, maintenance of a regular water flow assists river transport in the Ping and Chao Phya Rivers and improves salinity conditions in the river near Bangkok. Improved condi- tions for water transport on these rivers is of direct benefit to the area's agriculture. Previously, owing to lack of river trans- portation during the dry season, a considerable amount of paddy and other crops deteriorated in storage on farms not served by roads. The third phase of the extensive program to harness the waters of the Central Plain began in the early sixties with the construction of a series of dikes, canals, laterals, drains and roads in the Chao Phya area. The Bank extended a new loan of $5.6 million in 1962 to assist the financing of this phase, which involves the construction of about 12,000 miles of ditches to bring irrigation water to the farms, the construction of irrigation dikes on the farms themselves, the dredging of canals, and the building of 165 miles of feeder roads. This phase of the control program is expected to be completed by 1970. It will permit development and irrigation of almost 2 million acres of land for intensive cultivation. At the same time as committing new loan money to the third phase of the Central Plain water control program, the Bank extended a loan of $3.4 million for the Petchburi irri- 6 gation scheme in southwest Thailand. This project provides for the irrigation, drainage and flood control of 131,000 acres. Its key feature is a storage reservoir to improve the availability of water throughout the year. The reservoir, with an effective capacity of 595 million cubic meters, is at Kang Krachan on the Petchburi River. Other works included in the proj- ect are an enlargement of the canal system in the area, the construction of ditches to deliver water to the farms, and about 80 miles of farm-to-market roads. In November 1964, the Bank made a loan of $22 million to assist in financing an irrigation project in the Me Klang River Basin, which comprises the southwestern part of the great Central Plain of Thailand. The Royal Irrigation Department plans to develop irrigation facilities on 964,000 acres, to be carried out in stages over a period of ten years or more. About 90 per cent of the area is already planted to rice, but losses in crop production from floods and drought are not uncommon. The project being assisted by the Bank loan is the first stage of the development and is scheduled for completion before 1970. It provides for regulated irrigation, surface drainage and partial flood control of 432,000 acres. It also includes land classification for the entire development, and investigations and feasibility studies for the balance of the development. Among the works being undertaken are the construction of a diversion dam at Thau Maung, canal intake structures and irrigation canals, flood protection dikes, a navigation lock and an earth closure dam, the improvement of natural drainage channels, and about 25 miles of feeder roads. TRANSPORTATION The pattern of transportation in Thailand has been influenced by three main factors. First, most of the mountain ranges and rivers run from north to south. Secondly, the urban centers are located in the lower Central region, while most food growing areas are further north and usually along the rivers and canals. Third, most of the traffic consists of agricultural produce, which is carried to the food-consuming and processing centers 7 of the lower Central region and also to the port of Bangkok for export. The general result is that the country's main transport arteries run from north to south, with a lateral network of secondary arteries feeding into them. Communication from east to west is difficult and less developed because several mountain ranges and rivers must be crossed. Against this background, important developments in the transportation sector of the Thai economy have occurred in the last ten years. Developments in the field of road transport have been the most outstanding, although those in other sectors such as railroads, ports and air transport have been consider- able. The length of paved roads (asphalt and concrete) has almost trebled from 1, 116 miles in 1955 to about 3,200 miles in 1965. The number of motor vehicles has more than trebled from about 50,000 to almost 170,000. Railroad carload freight has about doubled from less than 800 million ton-kms in 1955 to more than 1,500 million ton-kms in 1965. Foreign trade cargo through the Port of Bangkok has grown from 3.3 million tons in 1955 to more than 8 million tons in 1965. In the sub- stantial public investment program lying behind this upsurge in the transport sector, the World Bank has been well repre- sented. Railways: The railways have played-and will continue to play-an important role in the economic development of Thailand. They link all important regions and, because the system centers on Bangkok, the principal seaport, they have been a substantial factor in the growth of the country's export trade in primary commodities, as well as of domestic trade. After the war, traffic increased as exports recovered and the population grew, so that by 1950 the railway system was in need of both rehabilitation and enlargement. With three loans totaling $29.6 million, the Bank has helped successive pro- grams of expansion of the railway network. A Bank loan of $3 million, one of three initial commitments made in October 1950, helped to rebuild and re-equip the Makasan workshops of the State Railway, to install mechanical signaling equip- ment, and to acquire spare parts to repair rolling stock. By 1955 further modernization and rehabilitation were required and the State Railway, in consultation with the Bank, drew up a five-year program ( 1955-60) to make good arrears of maintenance and to modernize and expand the sys- tem. In August 1955, the Bank made a loan of $12 million to assist this program which included renewal of rails on 875 miles of track, the purchase of 30 diesel locomotives, 1 70 pas- senger coaches and about 850 freight cars, and replacement of obsolete couplers with modern automatic type. With passenger traffic still rising, and freight traffic 80 % higher than in 1950, further expansion again became neces- sary and the State Railway launched another five-year program ( 1961-66 ) to increase capacity and improve operating efficiency. In April 1961 the Bank made a loan of $22 million ( later reduced to $14.6 million at the borrower's request) to assist this program. Proceeds of the loan financed the pur- 9 chase of locomotives and freight cars for the railways. The program assisted by the Bank also included improvements to track, bridges, station yards, signaling and telecommunica- tions equipment, and repair shops. Roads: In recent years, the growth of industry in Thailand and the widening of the country's pattern of agriculture have increased the importance of the road system. In the early sixties, Thailand embarked, with help from the Bank, on a comprehensive highway development program. The Bank made a loan of $35 million in 1963 (later reduced to $25 million at the request of the borrower) to help pay for the improvement or new construction of sections of three particularly important national highways totaling 200 miles in length, and also to finance feasibility studies for three additional sections, amount- ing to about 430 miles, in various parts of Thailand. The project has been carried out by the Department of Highways, with consulting engineers to assist in design and construction work, prepare the feasibility studies and advise on the reorgan- ization of operational and maintenance procedures. The Bank loan also financed the purchase of maintenance and other equipment, and a program of training abroad for Thai high- way personnel. In June 1966, the Bank made a further contribution to Thailand's road investment program, now designed to provide a network of paved roads capable of accommodating traffic growing at an annual rate of about 20 per cent in recent years. The Bank made a loan equivalent to $36 million to help finance construction or improvement of sections, totaling about 480 miles, of four national ·primary highways, and feasibility studies and engineering of a further 120 miles. One of the roads being financed with this latest loan extends 60 miles from Bangkok to Siracha via Cholburi, forming part of the trunk road that crosses the south-eastern region from Bangkok to the Cambodian border. The most heavily congested parts of the existing two-lane road will be replaced by four- lane, divided sections and a second two-lane road will be built over the rest of the route to Siracha. 10  IL AND 50 100 ISO 200Km. Modernization and rehabilitation of existing railways - Highway projects ~ Port improvement and ~ w 4 dredging ~ Multi purpose Flood control, irrigation, agriculture Transmission lines Financing of industrial * • "' development Education  Although it covers only 7 per cent of the land area, the south-east of Thailand grows 80 per cent of the cassava crop, a third of the sugar cane and 10 per cent of the rice. It is also Thailand's most important industrial area. Between Bangkok and Cholburi, 30 miles away, there is a large petroleum re- finery, several textile mills, sugar and tapioca refineries and several food-processing plants. The second road being financed under this latest Bank loan runs 260 miles from N akorn Saw an to Chiengrai and com- prises the northern two-thirds of a trunk road that traverses the country from Bangkok to the Burmese border. This road is the backbone of the transportation network of the northern region. The other two project roads are in the northeast, the least developed part of the country. They are the Udorn-Sakolnakorn 100-mile road, an easterly branch of Thailand's second north- south trunk road, and the Khonkaen-Chumphae 60-mile road, a westerly branch of the same trunk road. These should help open up the northeast and support the Government's efforts to alleviate the poverty of the area by investments in agriculture, irrigation, transport and community development. The rapid growth of highway transport in the last decade has made it the most important mode of transport in Thailand. The national highways network has been increased by 1,500 miles to a total of 5,900 miles, and the length of paved road by 2,000 miles to 3,100 miles. Despite this expansion, the present road system is inadequate even for existing traffic, and major improvements will be needed to carry the traffic ex- pected as the economy develops. It is estimated that by 1970 the number of vehicles will reach 300,000, or nearly double the present number, and that traffic will grow at about the same rate, if not somewhat higher. Ports: Eighty per cent of Thailand's exports pass through the Port of Bangkok, and almost all imports enter the country there. Silt deposited at the mouth of the Chao Phya River which flows past Bangkok has built up a bar extending more than nine miles into the Gulf of Thailand. Until 1954 this bar could not be crossed by ships of more than about 4,000 tons dead- 12 weight. All larger ships had to load and unload with the help of lighters-an expensive and dangerous operation-near Koh Sichang, a coastal island some distance from the mouth of the Chao Phya, and the lighters had to carry the goods the 55 miles to or from Bangkok. In October 1950 the Bank made a loan of $4.4 million, the greater part of which was used to finance the dredging of a deep channel through the sandbar to permit ships of up to 10,000 tons deadweight to use the port. The remainder of the loan helped to buy port equipment, including tugboats, cargo- handling equipment, buoys and a 1,500-kilowatt diesel power plant. Although silting was much heavier than expected, and a typhoon in October 1952 set work back by several months, the channel was opened early in 1954. Silting in the channel has 13 continued to be more serious than foreseen, however, and in October 1956, the Bank lent $3.4 million to the Port Authority of Thailand for three dredges and auxiliary equipment needed to keep the port open to larger vessels. Meanwhile, economic development in Thailand and the con- comitant growth of trade flowing through the Port of Bangkok have created increasing pressure on existing facilities and ship- ping accommodation at the port. In an effort to find long-term solutions to these problems, the United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP) has financed special studies which the Bank, as Executing Agency, has organized and supervised. Investigations and discussions resulting from this work are continuing. INDUSTRY The growth of manufacturing and processing industry in Thailand accelerated from a rate of increase of 3.4 per cent a year in 1957-61 to 12.1 per cent in 1961-65. Part of this acceleration reflected the agricultural boom in the period; for example, through increased rice-milling, sugar-milling and sugar-refining, saw-milling and slaughtering. These are still the backbone of Thai industry. Other agriculture-based indus- tries such as tobacco manufacturing, flour milling, distilleries and breweries also expanded rapidly in this period. But the most dynamic sources of growth lay in the establish- ment of new industries which have considerably broadened Thailand's manufacturing base. These new industries included manufacture of tires, construction materials (cement, glass, paint), pharmaceuticals, gunny bags, cotton textiles and a variety of metal products. Car assembly plants multiplied, and an oil refinery was established. Output in this section of manu- facturing expanded at the rate of 22 per cent a year in the period 1961-65. Such development has been encouraged by an environment of political stability, Government fiscal and tariff incentives for efficient import substitution, and the emergence of a growing 14 group of industrial entrepreneurs. To assist the growth of private industrial enterprise and to encourage private invest- ment, both from domestic and foreign sources, the Industrial Finance Corporation of Thailand ( IFCT) was established in 1959, with the World Bank playing an advisory role in its foundation. IFCT, a privately-owned company, is an institu- tional source of medium and long-term finance for private industry. In March 1964, the Bank and IFC joined with American in- vestment institutions, as well as investors in Thailand and seven other countries, in making loan and share capital avail- able to IFCT. The World Bank loan, of $2.5 million, provided foreign exchange for the purchase of imported equipment, materials and services. IFC invested B 4 million (US$193,200) in capital shares of IFCT. The two transactions were part of a series of measures being taken to increase the financial re- sources of IFCT to B 190 million (US$9.13 million), consider- ably more than previously available to it. EDUCATION The Thai authorities recognize the need for raising the level and effectiveness of educational investment as a basis for strong and sustained economic growth. A sizable increase in educational outlays is required in Thailand merely to keep pace with the growth in the school age population without allowing for increase in the percentage of school age children actually in school. In addition, continued expansion in the agricultural and industrial sectors of the economy will require substantial increases in the supply of well-qualified technicians and crafts- men in the years ahead. Thus education is an important and rapidly growing segment of the country's total public invest- ment program. In October 1966, the World Bank made a $6 million loan towards the financing of a $21 million project to strengthen and expand vocational education and teacher training for agri- culture and industry in Thailand. The project includes the 15 expansion of 14 trades and industries schools, nine vocational agricultural schools, a vocational teacher training college and an agricultural teacher training center, as well as the supply of specialist teaching services from abroad. Because of limited training facilities in industry, employers are turning increas- ingly to the country's vocational schools for production workers and for technicians. In agriculture, because commercial farm- ing is still new, agricultural school graduates are needed mainly for Government service in the fields of agricultural research, extension, land settlement and cooperatives. Soon, however, economic progress will lead to increasing demand for qualified agriculturalists in private farming and for commercial farmer services. In the field of industrial training, the project covers the expansion of land, buildings and equipment for 14 trades and industries schools to permit more effective training in five trades for a total enrollment of about 7,000 students, leading to an output of 2,100 students per year-900 per year more than at present. This increased output is expected to meet the needs of industry in the immediate future without the risk of an unemployable surplus. Of the 14 trades and industries schools involved, three are large schools in the Bangkok area and one is situated in each of the other eleven educational regions in Thailand, thus providing a balanced distribution throughout the country. Courses offered by these schools would cover the following trades: auto mechanics, building and con- struction, machine shop, metal work, electricity and radio. For expanded agricultural training the project is providing additional land, buildings, equipment, livestock and in-service teacher training at nine vocational agricultural schools and at the teacher training college at Bang-Pra. The agricultural schools of the project are well distributed among the regions with different natural and social conditions and varying pat- terns of farming. The new facilities will enable expansion of enrollment from 1,900 to 4,100 which will provide an output of 1,250 mid-level agriculturalists every year to meet the esti- mated requirements of the public services, farm services and 16 private farming. This section of the project gives special atten- tion to the agricultural teacher training program. In addition to new land, buildings, equipment and livestock, the Bang-Pra college will receive the services of five expatriate specialists in teaching crop and animal production, agricultural engineering, agricultural economics and extension education in agriculture. 17 OTHER ACTIVITIES A Bank survey mission went to Thailand in 1957, spending a year there working in close cooperation with a group of Thai experts who later formed the nucleus of an economic develop- ment council established on the mission's recommendation. The mission's report, presented to the Thai Government early in 1959, stressed the need for increased revenues, improved economic administration, and a more careful use of natural resources. One consequence of the report was the establish- ment of a new policy to attract foreign private capital for in- vestment in industry. For several years, the Bank had a resident representative in Thailand. From 1962 to 1964, the Bank also posted other members of its staff to Thailand, at the Government's request, to advise the National Economic Development Board and also the Committee for the Development of the Northeast, a low- income area receiving special attention. CONSULTATIVE GROUP Early in 1966 the Bank organized for Thailand a Consulta- tive Group consisting of nations interested in backing the country's efforts toward sustained economic expansion. For developing countries which meet the qualifications which ex- perience shows to be necessary, the Consultative Group is be- coming increasingly a part of the international machinery for development assistance. The purpose of Consultative Groups is to bring together the various sources of assistance which may be available to a developing country, so that an overall view of what is required to be done to assist the country's devel- opment can be fitted as efficiently as possible against the total aid likely to be forthcoming. In this way, the developing coun- try may present its case for financial and technical assistance to several potential sources of such assistance at one time, and in the light of an objectively considered evaluation of its pros- pects by the staff of the World Bank. With the Director of the Asia Department of the Bank as chairman, the new Consultative Group for Thailand held its 18 first meeting in London in May, 1966. The meeting was at- tended by representatives from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Switzer- land, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, the International Monetary Fund and the UN Development Programme. The Group discussed a report prepared by the World Bank on the economic situation in Thailand in relation to the Second Development Program for 1967-1971, together with a report by Thailand and a list of projects for which external assistance will be required. The Government of Thailand listed more than 100 capital and technical assistance projects and studies tenta- tively planned during the 1967-1971 plan period. The World Bank report endorsed as reasonable and attain- able the Thai Government's target of maintaining an economic growth rate of approximately seven per cent of GNP annually through the Plan period. The Bank will prepare a further report early in 1967 as soon as Thailand's Second Plan has been com- pleted. This report will assess the need for external financial assistance to public sector projects in the Thai economy during the next five years. SUMMARY OF WORLD BANK GROUP COMMITMENTS IN THAILAND BY SECTOR as of December 31, 1966 Amounts expressed in thousands of U.S. Dollars --BANK LOANS- - - I F C INVESTMENTS- NO. OF NO. OF PURPOSE LOANS AMOUNT INVESTMENTS AMOUNT TRANSPORTATION 7 $ 98,260 $- MULTIPURPOSE AND POWER 3 $ 78,388 IRRIGATION 4 49,000 INDUSTRY 1 2,500 2 493 EDUCATION 1 6,000 TOTAL 16 $234,148 2 $493 TOTAL WORLD BANK GROUP: $234,641 19  PHOTOGRAPHS Page 4. The Bhumiphol Dam across the Ping River, a tributary of the Chao Phya River. Page 8. A new signal tower of the State Railways of Thailand at Yomraj Crossing outside Bangkok. Page 13. Lighters at the dockside of the port of Bangkok. Page 17. Tending sugar cane near Sarm Chuck in the Central Plain of Thailand.  INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D . C. 20433 U.S.A. Telephone number: EXecutive 3-6360 Cable address: INTBAFRAD Office for Europe: 4, Avenue d'Iena, Paris 16e, France Telephone number: KLEber 25-10 Cable address: INTBAFRAD