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Background 
Thailand has two principal ports of significance: Bangkok Port and Laem Chabang Port.
Bangkok Port, situated on the left bank of the Chao Praya River, was established as a river port in 1947. The 941-acre site includes an east quay comprising eight berths and a west quay of 10 berths.
Laem Chabang Port is a natural deep-water port located 130 kilometres from Bangkok and 25 kilometres from Pattaya City in the coastal province of Chonburi. The Port Authority of Thailand (PAT) is responsible for the development of the 2,572-acre site, while private terminal operators were awarded concessions by the PAT to manage terminal operations.
The Laem Chabang Port has two phases of development, devised to support Thailand’s industrial and economic growth.
Phase 1 : 1987 - 1998
Construction of Laem Chabang Port Phase 1 began in 1987 with the development of Basin 1. In 1991, operations officially commenced at B1 and B3 terminal, the site’s first two terminals. Nine additional terminals were constructed throughout much of the 1990s.
Basin 1 has 11 terminals, including seven container terminals (A2, A3, B1-B5), one coastal and service berth (A0), one passenger terminal (A1), one general cargo terminal (A4) and one ro-ro terminal (A5). The depth alongside of Basin 1 is 14 metres, capable of supporting vessels of up to 6,500TEU.
Basin 1 provides a comprehensive range of services, including cargo handling, warehousing and cargo distribution, pilotage, sewage treatment, garbage collection and disposal, ship repair and vessel maintenance by a floating dockyard with a 140,000 DWT capacity.
Thailand’s fast-growing economy boosted the cargo volume in Laem Chabang Port. This prompted PAT to accelerate the construction of Laem Chabang Port Phase 2 Basin 2.
Phase 2 : 1998 - 2008
Construction of Laem Chabang Port Phase 2 began in 1998 with the development of Basin 2, and is a major component of Thailand’s 8th National Economic and Social Development Plan. Designed to facilitate the country’s growing container traffic, this ten-year project seeks to strengthen the competitive advantage of Laem Chabang Port during its transition towards becoming an international maritime hub.
Upon completion, Basin 2 will have six container terminals (C1–C3
and D1–D3), one conventional and ro-ro terminal (C0) plus 155-hectare
container yard.
It will also provide a full range of auxiliary services, including a Container Freight Station (CFS), a double track railway and improved highway connections with Thailand’s hinterland. These developments will greatly increase the attractiveness of Laem Chabang Port as a preferred destination port for shipping lines traversing the Asia-North America and Asia-Europe trade lanes. The depth alongside of Basin 2 is 16 metres, capable of accommodating the largest vessels afloat.
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| Hutchison Ports (Thailand) Limited (HPT) |
HPT is a member of the Hutchison
Port Holdings (HPH) Group, the world's leading port investor,
developer and operator, with interests in Laem Chabang Port
since 2002. HPT was formed in 2006
to consolidate the management of HPH's terminal operations
at Laem Chabang Port, which include:
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Thai Laemchabang Terminal (TLT)
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Hutchison Laemchabang Terminal (HLT)
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| 3. |
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Laemchabang International Ro-Ro Terminal (LRT)
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These facilities are conveniently located on the doorstep of the Rayong and Laem Chabang industrial and manufacturing zones, home to many of the world’s largest producers and manufacturers. Excellent road and rail connections to these and other industrial areas of Thailand enable the terminals to facilitate the swift and efficient movement of cargo to and from the country’s hinterland.
HPT is committed to facilitating
the growth of Thailand’s containerised cargo volumes and the
nation’s modernisation.
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| Thai Laemchabang Terminal (TLT) |
TLT began operating the A2 container
terminal located at Basin 1, Laem Chabang Port in 2002. The
site includes a 400-metre quay, equipped with efficient and
general cargo handling equipment and facilities
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| Hutchison Laemchabang Terminal (HLT) |
HLT operates six container terminals
located at Basin 1 and Basin 2, Laem Chabang Port, the first
of which is A3 located at Basin 1. A3 officially commenced
operations in 2006 and is directly linked to A2 to realise
a combined quay length of 750 metres, which can simultaneously
handle either two 6,500-TEU container vessels or one 6,500-TEU
container vessel and two feeder vessels.
Terminals C1 and C2, and D1-D3 are located at Basin 2 and include a designed capacity to handle 8,500-TEU container vessels. Terminals C1 and C2 are expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2007, while D1-D3 are scheduled to come on-stream by the end of 2011.
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| Laemchabang International RO-RO Terminal (LRT) |
LRT (shown in
the map as C0), a conventional and ro-ro terminal located
at the intersection of Terminals C and D, Basin 2, commenced
operations in 2005. It has a quay length of 500 metres.
LRT is fast developing into Southeast
Asia’s number one distribution centre for vehicles, having
demonstrated significant throughput gains since 2002. LRT
has invested significantly in C0 to expand its handling capacity
in-line with market expectations of growing automobile cargo.
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