total transportation demand increases, the share of railways is coming down.
(See Tables 5.5 - 1 and 5.5 - 2.)
2.5.2 Road
(1) Roles of road
Up until the 50's, the transport systems of Thailand other than railways mainly relied upon transportation by water exploiting rivers and canals. But in the 60's and thereafter, Thailand saw a rapid emergence of motorization partly because of the fact that the investments on the infrastructure were made with a priority on roads.
The passengers and Freight transported in the country by means of road account for 91 % and 84 % respectively. Comparing to the similar figures in Japan, 66 % and 51 % respectively, Thailand relies quite heavily on road transportation.
(2) Overview of road
The total distance of the national highways and the prefectural road is about 53,000 km, more than 90 % of which is paved.
Construction of freeways in and around Bangkok started in 1978 and about 50 km is usable today. When the 7th highway construction 5 year plan is completed (in 1996), the total distance of highways is expected to reach 225 km.
