Development of the Cooperative Intelligent Transport System in Thailand: A Prospective Approach

Smart mobility is becoming an alternative technology of transportation development for today and the future. Thailand has applied the intelligent transport system (ITS) to improve traffic and transport services. The success of the project is generally dependent on collaboration between private, public, and governmental agencies in policymaking and planning, coupled with an inclusive agreement and technological knowledge in the field. This study argues that Thailand’s automatic transportation has been successful because of cooperative-ITS (C-ITS). This study explores the evidence-based cases of ITS development from six areas, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, China, the European Union, and the United States of America, to explain how the C-ITS conditions support the success of ITS. The study uses the SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) and TOWS (Threat, Opportunity, Weakness, Strength) analysis matrix to identify influential factors from the six-area cases and compare them to Thailand. The authors identified seven components that relate to the success of Thailand’s C-ITS. These include: (1) Pragmatic policy for pilot project implementation; (2) close cooperation among stakeholders; (3) working criteria for C-ITS development; (4) architecture of standard and framework; (5) share of lessons learned about current technology; (6) capability of C-ITS deployment; and (7) a clear statement of data exchange and sharing. These findings represent both the threat and opportunity for traffic and transport improvement in Thailand through the C-ITS approach.