Bangkok Port

File:Bangkok Harbour cranes.jpg

Cranes at Khlong Toei Port

Bangkok Port (Thai: ท่าเรือกรุงเทพ), popularly known as Khlong Toei Port (ท่าเรือคลองเตย), is an international port located on the Chao Phraya River in Khlong Toei District of the Thai capital city Bangkok. It is operated by the Port Authority of Thailand. It was Thailand's main international port from its opening in 1947 until it was superseded by the deep-sea Laem Chabang Port in 1991. It is primarily a cargo port, though its inland location limits access to ships of 12,000 deadweight tonnes or less. The port handled 11,936,855 tonnes (13,158,130 tons) of cargo in the first eight months of the 2010 fiscal year, about 22 percent the total of the country's international ports.

Situated south of the city hub, Sukhumvit Road, the Bangkok Port boasts of being one of the world's 100extremely busy container ports. The port also offers conventional quay for loading and unloading cargo.

Constructed on a loan from the World Bank, the port lies under the supervision of the Port Authority of Thailand. The port boomed during the 1950s and to meet the growing business and traffic, the Kloeng Toey port saw massive expansion in the early 1980s. It handled 98 per cent of Thailand's imports, 60 per cent of outgoing goods and 40 per cent of coastal traffic. Despite every attempt to improve the port infrastructure, it could not cope with the growing pressure of work. Eventually, out of grave necessity, the Port of Laem Chabang came into existence, which brought the work of the Bangkok Port, to drop drastically. Although the Bangkok Port's flow in of imports has gone down by 40 per cent, the post 1995 export cargo volume has kept at a satisfactory level.

External links

• Official website