Bangkok: The Ministry of Transport has injected 56 billion baht to drive the Thai economy, support employment, push tourism, restore infrastructure, and focus on improving safety in travel and transportation, as well as solving traffic problems and connecting networks nationwide. It is confident that it will create maximum benefits and effectively stimulate the economy.
According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Suriya Juangroongruangkit, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, revealed that on May 20, 2025, the Cabinet approved the economic driving plan under the 157,000 million baht budget framework to distribute money into the economic system, promote employment, increase career opportunities for the people, and support tourism. The agencies receiving the budget have been assigned to prepare projects and budget requests to implement the plan.
In this regard, the Ministry of Transport has proposed a budget allocation for a total of 56,666 million baht from 6 agencies, consisting of the Department of High
ways (DOH) with approximately 4,000 projects worth 37,636 million baht, the Department of Rural Roads (DRR) with approximately 3,700 projects worth 17,051 million baht, the Department of Airports (DOR) with 766 million baht, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) with 1,022 million baht, the Transport Company Limited (BKS) with 15 million baht, and the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) with 42 million baht.
Currently, opinions are awaited from the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) and the Budget Bureau before submitting them to the Cabinet for consideration within the next two weeks. However, if the budget allocation is approved, it is expected that the bidding process and contract signing will begin in July-August 2025, after which the project will immediately proceed.
Mr. Suriya continued that for the projects proposed for budget allocations to implement the economic driving plan under the 157,000 million baht framework, the focus will be on transportation infrastructure projects to
increase safety in travel and transportation, including solving traffic problems in areas with bottlenecks and lack of connectivity. These are mostly small to medium-sized projects with a budget framework of 5-20 million baht per project. They can be implemented within a year and must be ready for implementation and able to start bidding immediately in order to inject money into the economic system quickly.
‘For example, the safety project proposed for budget allocation this time is the project to improve road safety on the Kabin Buri-Wang Nam Khiao route, which is a route with frequent accidents. The project will install lighting, paint traffic lines, install guardrails, and install smart signage systems, demonstrating the commitment to improve the safety standards of the country’s transportation. I am confident that the allocated budget will provide the greatest benefit and effectively stimulate the economy,’ said Mr. Suriya.
Mr. Suriya added that in terms of budget allocation details, divided by agency a
nd category, the Department of Highways will implement projects covering traffic bottlenecks, increasing travel safety, and improving roads connecting secondary cities and tourist attractions. The Department of Rural Roads will focus on increasing travel and transportation safety, improving and developing roads connecting secondary cities, tourist attractions, and production areas. The Department of Airports will propose budget allocations for airport improvement projects to meet safety standards and increase service efficiency, such as runway reinforcement construction, underground electrical system improvement, and weapon and explosive detection systems improvement. The State Railway of Thailand will implement projects focusing on increasing travel and transportation safety and solving problems at intersections between railways and level roads, such as projects to address impacts from accidents, improve railways, stations, and signaling systems. The Transport Company will implement safety projects, promote
tourism in secondary cities by Transport Company buses, and improve passenger terminals. The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority will implement projects to solve traffic bottlenecks and increase travel safety, such as projects to improve seats and lights in buses.