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| Thailand |
| Customs,
Transport and Communication |
Customs Entry
All merchandise entering Thailand except for transhipment or in transit,
is subject to customs examination. Customs entry forms must be prepared
and submitted together with originals or duplicate shipping documents.
Usually, spot or random checks are made rather than examination of
entire consignment. As a rule, 5 percent of packages in a consignment
may be inspected.
Inspectors of the Food and Drug Administration make the inspection
of food products, drugs, cosmetics, toxic substances, narcotic and
psychotropic substances and medical devices. The import form and the
label may be inspected and samples will be collected for analysis.
In some cases the cargo under supervision may be released only after
analysis.
Ports
Most goods imported into Thailand by sea or air enter Bangkok. Goods
are sent by sea to the port at Klong Toey in Bangkok and by air to
Bangkok International Airport. There are about 30 provincial seaports
of Southern Thailand and the recently constructed deep-water ports
of Laem Chabang and Map Ta Phut on the Eastern Sea board. The port
of Bangkok has facilities to handle container, bulk and break bulk
cargo. The ports of Thailand had handled containerised cargo of estimated
1.7 million TEUS in 1995.
The Bangkok International Airport (Don Muang) is a major transit point
in South East Asia and has had its cargo facilities as well as passenger
terminals modernized and expanded. It has a capacity for 23.12 million
passengers and 660,872 tons of cargo per year.
A second international airport for Bangkok is being planned at Nong
Ngu Hao, South East of Bangkok, which was targeted to complete by
2000. Three other international airports are located at Chiangmai
(in the North) and Haad Yai and Phuket (in the South).
Warehousing
Goods held in customs custody can be subject to government disposal,
if not claimed within 4 months, or if in arrears in rent or warehouse
charges. The agent of the importing vessel is given a 14-day option
of either clearing the goods through customs or re-exporting them.
If no action is taken, customs authorities or a designated agency
or firm may destroy the goods or sell them at a public auction. While
the agent is liable for storage and other charges applying to abandoned
goods, the usual practice is to apply the auction proceeds first on
customs duties and then on rent and warehouse charges.
Bonded warehouses may be designated and authorized by the customs
department. A bonded warehouse may make a prior request from the customs
department, or get written approval from the Board of Investment in
order to be exempted from import duties. Generally, bonded warehouses
are intended to facilitate exports and duty free shops at international
airports.
Transit
Transhipments are cleared through customs upon application submitted
by the international consignee. Physical examination of the goods
is usually waived.
Re-export
Under section 17 of the Customs Code of Thailand, duty drawback of
nine-tenths of the duty paid is allowed when goods are re-exported
within one year of import, provided that the re-exported goods have
not been used or processed in Thailand. Refund of the study paid can
be requested on a case-by-case basis from the customs department,
when goods are imported for processing in Thailand and re-exported
within one year from the date of import.
Transport and Communication
Merchant Fleet: Number of vessels (1994) - 1,374
Airline: 01 National airline - Thai Airways International
Railway: Length (end 1996) - 3,865 km
Passengers Traffic (1994): 14,496 million passengers
per km
Freight Traffic (1994): 14,496 3,072 million net
tons per km
Roads (end 1995): Total Network - 62,000 km
Main Roads - 62,000 km
Paved - 97.4%
Density - 0.12 km/km2
Thailand is making use of BOT and other privatisation schemes for
road construction and management.
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| Vehicle
ownership: Passenger Cars |
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1994 |
1995 |
| Sales |
155,670
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162,802 |
| Ownership |
1,265,030
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| Ownership rate |
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2.2% |
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1994 |
1995 |
| Sales |
330,008 |
408,778 |
| Total lines |
3,482,000 |
| Total demand |
4,565,5000 |
| Satisfied demand (%) |
76.3% |
| Waiting time (Year) |
1.9 |
| Capacity used (%) |
79.1% |
| Automatic (%) |
100 |
| Digital (%) |
86.9% |
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| Cellular Mobile
Phones (1995) |
| Subscribers |
1,087,500
|
| Percentage of population |
1.83% |
| As a percentage of total telephone subscribers |
23.8% |
Telecommunication services in Thailand fall under the Telephone Organization
of Thailand (TOT), which handles
principally domestic telephone services. The Communication Authority
of Thailand (CAT) handles international
telephone services. Both offer similar phones, paging services and
long distance telephone services.
The Post and Telegraph Department supervises radio communications.
TV Ownership
TV receivers (end 1995)
Ownership - 13,500,000
Ownership rate - 22%
CATVs (end 1995)
Ownership - 210,000
Home satellite antennas (end 1995): Ownership - 100,000
Personal computers (end 1995): Total units - 900,000
Ownership rate: 1.52%
Radios (1993): 10.9 million receivers
Newspapers Dailies: Thai Language - 13, English -
5 (Asia Times, Bangkok Post), Chinese - 4
Weekly: Thai Language - 6, English - 2
Fortnightly: Thai Language - 3
Monthly: 13 (in different languages and subjects)
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