Announcement of Twenty-Three Million Loan for Highways in Thailand on June 18, 1969

FQR JMMEDIATE RELEASE 9 . / • lNTF r,tK FOR DE.\/ELOPIVIENT 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 Bank Press Release No. 69/44 Subject; $23 million loan for highways .June 18, 1969 in Thailand The World Bank today announced a loan equivalent to $23 million for a highway project in Thailand, which consists mainly of the construction or improvement of three sections totaling 182 miles of primary highways linking Bangkok, the capital, with the northern, northeastern and southern regions. The pi'oject is part of the Government's highway program for the period 1965-71 which calls f~r an investment equivalent to $400 million for the construction or improvement of 4,650 miles of roads to keep pace with the rapidly growing traffic. • The loan will be made to Thailand for a term of 20 years, including a 4-1/2- year grace period, with interest at 6-1/2%. This will be the Bank's fourth loa"Q .cor highways in Thailand, bringing the total lent for that purpose to $110 million. Earlier loans were for the construc- tion and improvement of 980 miles of primary roads, feasibility studies of 1,240 miles of feeder roads and the engineering of 395 miles, feasibility studies and engineering of 118 miles of primary roads, the purchase of road maintenance equip,a rr.f'-nt and the training a.broad of personnel of the Highway Department. The three highways included in the present Bank project now carry substantial volumes of traffic and will generate additional traffic as new economic activities ,.~,~ 1relop. One of the roads will complete the up-grading of Thailand's most important m., r th-south highway which extends from Chie11grai, near the Burmese border, south- -. ·,.,::,,cl to Bangkok. The second road will b~ a new highway f'rom Thonburi, adjacent to • fl.q_r,.gkok, southwest to Paktho at the northern tip of the Thailand ·Isthmus; it will /more  r.~o. • J.inrt.'ic Press g.elease 69/44 ,rt-.~n.:~:,c~ .. High-:..-sy:;; - 2 - ~ . .:*r;r,;: t:hc l,P.av!ly congested coastal plain along the Gulf of Siam. The thirci r·cad Hill complete the Government's program to provide connections between the once isolated northeast and the country's population centers. The Bank project also includes consultants' services to supervise construc,- tion of the roads and to undertake detailed engineering of a further 330 miles of primary highways if feasibility studies now nearing completion prove their c~onomic justification, and the purchase of workshop equipment for highway rnaintenance. The project will be executed by the Department of Highways of the Ministry of National Development, with the assistance of consu!tants. It is scheduled for completion in 1973 at a total estimated cost equivalent to $48. 7 &'.i,illion. The • f',ank loan will finance the foreign exchange requirements and the balance will be ;-·covided by the Government. ,., c international competitive bidding. Construction cont,racts will be awarded on the basis - 0 - •