Laem Chabang Port, Thailand

Laem Chabang Port is Thailand’s main international trade gateway and has been delivered in three major demand-aligned phases over several decades in response to growing trade demand, increasing vessel sizes, and structural constraints at legacy ports. The port was originally conceived to relieve pressure on Bangkok Port, which faced limitations in draft and hinterland capacity, and was therefore masterplanned from the outset as a multi-phase development to align infrastructure delivery with long-term cargo growth.

Phase 1, which commenced operations in 1991, established Laem Chabang as Thailand’s primary deepsea port. This phase focused on the development of initial container and multipurpose terminals (Terminals A and B), with a channel depth of approximately -14 meters and total berth length of around 3.6 km. It provided a baseline capacity of approximately 4.3 million TEU per annum (Takashima, 2024). The initial phase preserved space for future expansion.

As trade volumes increased significantly through the late 1990s and 2000s, Phase 2 was implemented to expand capacity in response to a growing task. This phase introduced additional container terminals (Terminals C and D), increased berth depth to approximately -16 meters, and expanded total berth length to over 4 km. Phase 2 added approximately 6.8 million TEU of capacity, bringing the combined capacity of Phases 1 and 2 to over 11 million TEU annually. The sources reviewed describe the phases and their capacities, not the triggers used for each investment decision.

Phase 3 represents the current expansion stage and is being developed to accommodate continued trade growth, the increasing scale of container vessels, and Thailand’s strategic ambition to become a regional logistics hub under the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) framework. This phase involves major land reclamation, development of new terminals (including Terminal F), deeper channels of approximately -18.5 meters, and integration of multimodal logistics infrastructure such as rail and advanced terminal technologies. Phase 3 will include the staged delivery of terminals F1, F2, E0, E1 and E2, with F1 expected to open in 2027 and F2 in 2031 (EECO forecasts; these dates do not cover all five terminals) and, once completed, is expected to increase total port capacity to approximately 18 million TEU per annum (Eastern Economic Corridor Office of Thailand, n.d.).

Successive phases at Laem Chabang illustrate how capacity can be added over time, with later expansion planned to accommodate future trade and vessel requirements. Safeguarding land for later phases and progressively deepening marine infrastructure have allowed the port to grow from a regional gateway to a major international hub.